Muslims “Honor” Family by Killing Women

December 15, 2002

By Tom Barrett, Editor@ConservativeTruth.org

In Pakistan and other predominantly Muslim countries, the phrase “family values” has a somewhat different meaning than it does in civilized countries. In the United States and Canada, for instance, when we refer to family values we are speaking of protecting the family and its members. To Muslims, an important part of family values involves murdering female members of the family. It is called “honor” killing.

This year in Pakistan Muslim men killed 461 women in “honor murders.” Other Muslim nations have similar horrifying statistics to share. These men are murdering their own mothers, wives and sisters in the name of Allah. Their excuse? They are defending the “honor” of their families.

What are the crimes these women have committed that are so terrible their religion says they must die? Here is a list provided by Islamic scholars.

SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE. While I firmly believe that any sex outside of a marriage covenant is sinful, I see a basic lack of fairness here. Many Muslim men indulge their desires for women, but no one is killing them. Why is that true? Because this benighted religion considers women property, not people. Men rule, women die. Women have no value other than serving men.

DATING. Muslim women adopt Western customs at their peril. Personally, I am not a big fan of dating. I don’t have space to go into it here, but I feel it is one of the least beneficial of our exported customs. I just don’t see dating as a capital offense. The Muslim religion dictates that the fathers will choose their daughters’ husbands. I’m sure the fact that they traditionally get paid for her by the groom’s family has nothing to do with their reluctance to give up this power. But murdering your own daughter because she dated someone? This is sick.

TALKING TO MEN. Now there’s an offense that is certainly worthy of murder. In Islamic countries women are so subjugated that they have lower status than slaves. They are not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a male family member. Can you imagine this? A ten-year-old boy could decide whether his mother is allowed to go to the store if he is the only male around. Then if a woman should ask a man for directions, she gets a death sentence. Her family’s “honor” has been tarnished by this terrible act.

BEING RAPED. I am not kidding. The most terrible violation any woman of any religion could endure is being raped. Christians embrace women who have experienced this horror, and help them heal. They love them, counsel them, encourage them, and pray for them. Muslims kill them. This is truly a barbaric religion.

I use the word “barbaric” advisedly. I know that many people, including those who know better, will criticize me. But what other word can be used of a religion that orders the murder of a woman because she talked to a man, or because she was a rape victim?

Lest someone think I am exaggerating the seriousness of Islamic brutality, consider the case of Arina Lawal, a thirty-one-year-old new mother in Nigeria. Her baby was born out of wedlock. It is unknown whether she was raped or whether she was a willing participant. The latter is unlikely, because as a Muslim she would know the consequences of sex outside of marriage. In any case, an Islamic religious court has sentenced her to be stoned to death as soon as her newborn child is weaned.

Islam doesn’t take well to criticism. Author Salman Rushdie wrote a book (The Satanic Verses) that Islamic religious leaders didn’t like. They put out a death warrant for him. Here is a copy of the actual fatwah Muslim clerics issued against Rushdie: “The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to capital punishment. We call on all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to execute this sentence without delay, so that no one henceforth will dare insult the sacred beliefs of the Muslims.”

A journalist in Nigeria made the mistake of suggesting that if the “prophet” Mohammed were around today, he might want to marry one of the women competing in the Miss World contest. Muslims rioted in the streets, killing over 200 people over that innocent remark.

We make a serious mistake when we imagine that Islam is a religion resembling anything in our frame of reference. Most Americans and Canadians have had experience with Catholics, Protestants and Jews. There are obvious differences between these faiths, but there are also many similarities. Chief among the similarities are the ideals of love, kindness and tolerance. We assume that because Islam is a “religion” it will have similar ideals. Not so.

Islam is a vengeful religion. Don’t listen to what people, including our president, tell you about Islam. Read the Koran yourself. You will be dismayed. As you study more you will be horrified. Finally you will start to be afraid, and with good reason.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It gets worse. Islam is also the fastest growing religion in the United States. Muslims are already gaining considerable political clout. They have hired public relations people who know how to manipulate our system to convince us that theirs is a “peaceful” religion. They have started buying politicians.

Their efforts are paying off. They have used the backlash against them brought about by the Islamic attacks against America to their advantage. In just over a year since 9/11 it has become politically incorrect to say anything even mildly negative about Muslims or Islam, however true. Schools that will not allow a Youth for Christ Club to meet in empty classrooms before school are allowing their gyms to be used during classes (and allowing Muslim students to skip class) for prayer to Allah. Federal agents who know of mosques that are sheltering terrorists or hiding explosives and chemical weapons are not allowed to search them. As a nation we have become afraid of Islam.

We see mosques being used as terrorist training and organizational centers in other countries, and we watch video of Muslim clerics using loudspeakers attached to mosques to whip their people into violent riots. And we say, “That won’t happen here. American Muslims aren’t like that.” I would agree that many Muslims in this country would not engage in violence against America. They know they have it much better here than in the backward nations that are predominantly Islamic. Muslims here are also much better educated than Muslims in other parts of the world. Most of them are illiterate and easily led by their hate-filled clerics.

But we would do well to remember that most Muslims in this country are Muslims first, Americans second. Their religion demands this. And when their religious leaders tell them to engage in Jihad, as thousands of Muslim clerics are doing every day worldwide, many of them will obey. Where do you think the members of the terrorist cells recently captured in the US came from? These weren’t Muslims smuggled into this country from Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. They were American citizens, homegrown terrorists.

As much as I love and respect President Bush, I believe he has been grievously deceived regarding Islam. He keeps talking about Islam as a religion of peace, and he doesn’t seem to have a clue how wrong he is.

Recently Bush visited a mosque in honor of the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, where he talked about the holiday's emphasis on charity and tolerance. Tell that to the thousands of women murdered every month by Muslims in “honor” killings, Mr. President.