Correctly Assigning Blame in a Tragic Story

          On Friday, August 3^rd, British courts convicted Farzana and Iftikhar Ahmed to life in prison for the 2003 murder of their 17 year old daughter, Shafilea. 

         

          The parents had problems with Shafilea’s “Western lifestyle” and for also not marrying the man they tried to arrange her with. There were several incidents of abuse before the murder. Several times the parents punched, kicked, and strangled her, leaving her with bruises. On the night they murdered her, they stuffed a plastic bag into her mouth, and kept their hands over her nose and mouth, suffocating the struggling girl to death.

          This is a tragic story on so many levels. I would like nothing better than to beat the living shit out of those parents, to make them feel how they made their daughter feel for so many years. However, since they live in a “civilized” society, the parents get free room and board, food, water, electricity, and air conditioning for the rest of their pathetic little lives. There are several points I would like to make about this story.

          1. Since the Ahmed family is Muslim, many people around the world are blaming this “honor killing” on Islam. These people are part of a worldwide bigoted group that have the logical fallacy of thinking that if a Muslim does something, then that something is, automatically and without question, approved by Islam. If a Muslim kills an innocent civilian, then they say Islam approves of killing innocent civilians. If a Muslim man beats his wife, then they come to the conclusion that Islam approves of wife beating.

          To see the logical fallacy in this ignorant way of looking at the world, let’s switch Islam with Christianity.
          All over America, every single day, Christians murder Christians. In a bank, in their homes, in the streets, wherever, the fact is, Christians kill Christians by the dozens every day in this country, and in other countries as well for that matter. Does that mean that Christianity approves of murder?

          All over America, every day, Christian men rape Christian women. Does that mean that Christianity approves of rape?

          All over America, every day, Christians steal from banks, homes, cars, etc. Does that mean that Christianity approves of theft?

         

          OF COURSE NOT YOU FUCKING MORONS!!

          Now you see how stupid this opinion is. Islam is not what all Muslims do. Islam is what the Quran and Hadiths, (sayings of the Prophet pbuh) says, and that’s it. That’s it. That’s it. If it is not in the Quran or a Hadith, then it is not Islamic. Read the Quran, and tell me the verse where it says that parents can murder their daughters if they perceive that their daughters caused them “dishonor.” I’ve asked this of bigots many times, and I’m still waiting for an answer. They can’t answer me.

          Not only is “honor killing” not approved of in the Quran, but the Quran specifically forbids people from killing their children for perceived dishonor. That’s right, you read that right.

          The Quran specifically forbids people from killing their children in the name of honor.

          قل تعالوااتل ما حرم ربكم عليكم الا تشركوا به شياوبالوالدين احساناولاتقتلوااولادكم من   ا ملاق نحن نرزقكم و اياهم و لا تقربو اا لفواحش ما ظهرمنها و ما بطن و لا تقتلو اا لنفس    التى حرم الله ا لا با حق ذلكم و صكم به لعلكم تعقلون, (صورة الانعام, آية 151).

        Say: Come, I will rehearse what Allah has really prohibited you from: join not anything with him, be good to your parents, kill not your children on a plea of want, We have provided sustenance for you and for them, come not to indecent deeds, whether open or secret, take not life except by way of justice and law, this does He command you, that you may learn wisdom. (Surah The Cattle, verse 151).

و لا تقتلو ااولادكم خشية املاق نحن نرزقهم و ايا كم ان قتلهم كان خطا كبيرا, (صورة الاسراء, آية 31).

        Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily in killing them is a great sin. (Surah Israa, verse 31).

          I am so sick of such horrible things, (terrorism, pedophiles, wife beating, honor killings, etc) being blamed on Islam, when Islam clearly says that these things are great and horrible sins. I can’t get any clearer than this. People who claim they are Muslims, (even though they act nothing how Muslims are commanded to act), use Islam as a cover for their terrible and heinous acts. So instead of attacking them, or the specific practice, other people attack Islam instead. The bigots are playing right into their hands! The bigots are doing exactly what these “Muslims” want them to do!

          2. While we’re on the topic on how Islam views this type of crime, I’m furious that the parents got life in prison instead of the death penalty. This is not justice to Shafilea. She died in very painful and agonizing way, and what do her parents get in return for killing her? Like I said above: free room and board, food, water, electricity, and air conditioning for the rest of their pathetic little lives. 

          Islam allows authority to prescribe the death penalty, as shown in the verse from The Cattle. It also commands the death penalty for murder:

          يايهاالدين امنواكتب عليكم القصاص في القتلى, (صورة البقرة, آية 178 ).

O ye who believe, the law of equality is prescribed to you in the cases of murder, (Surah The Cow, verse 178).

          I’ve read too many stories of people who have murdered their wives, their husbands, their children, or just some random person on the street who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Obviously, the deterrence for murder is not doing its job. What I suggest we do is take Farzana and Iftikhar, put them in a public arena or stadium, so that the whole world can see with cameras and cellphones, and chop them up with a battle-axe or beat the living shit out of them with a spiked bludgeon.

          That way, we can say to the world “This is what happens when you murder an innocent. This is what happens when you take a life away for selfish or arrogant reasons. This is what will happen to you if you dare do such a heinous crime as murder.

          I guarantee you, murder rates will drop. And for people who say that this would be “barbaric,” I’d reply with: No, what is barbaric is letting two psychotic, demented murderers live out the rest of their lives in comfort and ease. And for people who say “Oh, if you do that, you’re just as bad as the killers themselves,” I’d reply with: No, the killers killed an innocent who wasn’t doing anything and wasn’t hurting them at all. I am killing a murderer. Big fucking difference.

          3. Some people will argue that even though Farzana and Iftikhar were very strict parents, Shafilea still had to obey them, because Islam orders children to obey their parents in every single situation. However, there is one exception to this rule. If a parent orders their child to do something that is against Islam, then the child has the right to disobey their parents.   

          Farzana and Iftikhar were trying to force Shafilea to marry. Forced marriages are against Islam. That’s right. Despite the lies and propaganda gushed by anti-Islam bigots, Islam specifically gives a person the right to choose his/her own wife/husband.

          Ibn Muflih al-Ḥanbali (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: The parents have no right to force their son to marry someone he does not want.

          Shaykh Ibn Tayymiyyah said: Neither of the parents has the right to force their son to marry someone whom he does not want, and if he refuses, he is not sinning by disobeying them, because no one has the right to force him to eat food he finds off-putting when there is food that he wants to eat, and marriage is like that and more so. Food that one is forced to eat is unpleasant for a short while, but a forced marriage lasts for a long time, and it harms a person and he cannot leave it.  Al-Adāb al-Shar'iyyah (1/447)

          Khansa' bint Khizam al-Ansāriyyah said “My father married me to his nephew, and I did not like this match, so I complained to the Messenger of Allāh. He said to me “accept what your father has arranged.” I said “I do not wish to accept what my father has arranged.” He said “then this marriage is invalid, go and marry whomever you wish.” (Fathul Bāri, Sharah Al Bukhāri 9/194, Ibn Mājah Kitabun Nikah 1/602). In another version, she went to the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and he annulled the marriage. Narrated by al-Bukhāri, 4845.

          And it was narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allāh be pleased with him) that a virgin came to the Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and told him that her father had married her off against her objections. The Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) gave her the choice. Narrated by Abu Dāwūd, 2096.

          Therefore, Shafilea had the religious and moral right to disobey her parents when it came to them trying to force her to marry someone that she did not want to marry.

          4. I am sick and tired of reading story after story, of a child or wife who was brutally murdered by their parents, husband, etc, whatever the case may be. The child or wife repeatedly tells their friends and family “So-and-so hit me, threatened me, did this, did that.” They repeatedly tell police “So-and-so strangled me, kicked me out of the house, etc etc.”

          And no one does anything. They just ignore it, for fear of “getting into other people’s business.” And then a few months later, that child or wife is brutally killed, and the police, community say “Oh how sad, we saw this coming, but we couldn’t do anything about it,” etc etc, the usual BS. You guys know what I’m talking about. And then they go on their merry little lives. 

          This shows how decadent our society, our world has become. I know this particular case that I’m talking about happened in Britain, but the same can be said for America. We are so deathly afraid of confrontation, that we don’t defend our friends and family from harm that they repeatedly warn us about, repeatedly beg for help. The police are so afraid of lawsuits, claims of police brutality, etc etc, that they do nothing to protect a child or wife. 

          As responsible and principled people, we have to step up to the plate to protect our fellow human beings. We have to get over our fear of confrontation and fighting. These things are sometimes necessary to save an innocent life.

·         If a child comes to you, with claims or signs of physical or psychological abuse, don’t ignore him/her from fear of annoying the parents. Call police, keep pressure on them until they send an officer over, document the abuses if they won’t, help the child have an escape plan in the case of a very nasty incident, let them know of their rights, tell them that they can run away to your house if they feel that they are in physical danger, etc etc, those sorts of things.

·         If a woman comes to you, with claims or signs of physical abuse, sexual abuse, battering, don’t ignore her from fear of annoying the husband. Call police, keep pressure on them until they send an officer over, help the woman document the abuses, help her come up with a plan of defense if her husband attacks her again, i.e. help her buy a knife, a taser, a gun, whatever she feels is necessary to defend herself or her kids, help explain to her legal rights when it comes to self-defense, etc etc.

          I have a friend whose husband repeatedly beat her for many months. She lived abroad and I had no idea about her situation. But one day, she decided that she was done being a victim, she was done being defenseless. One night, when her husband attacked her, she got a kitchen knife to defend herself, and sent him to the hospital! The police did an investigation, found that she used legitimate, lawful self-defense, and now the husband is in jail. 

          This is the sort of behavior we need to encourage women to exhibit, so that they can stand up for their rights and refuse to be kept down anymore. We shouldn’t force them to do anything, only simply tell them their options and support whatever decision they make.

         

          5. (Last point) Shafilea’s parents killed her also, in part, for her “Western habits and lifestyle.” If they were so vehemently opposed to Western ways, why the fuck did they move from Pakistan to Britain?! Idiots! Complete ignorant idiots! What the hell did they expect their child to do, since she was born in Britain????

          In conclusion, I hope my readers do not see this as a rambling rant, but as legitimate anger directed at the multiples failures of the people around Shafilea to protect her. Let this tragedy help us learn, so that we may one day help avoid one in the future. Also, it is legitimate anger towards the fact that this heinous crime will be blamed on a religion that specifically considers this crime a major sin. May Allah, (swt) bless Shafilea Ahmed and grant her Jannah, (heaven), where she will be loved and feel no more pain.

          (Picture is from CNN)

          (My Arabic is far from perfect. If any of my readers who know Arabic see that I made a mistake on the Quran translations, please let me know via a comment on this post so that I may correct it. I do not want incorrect Quran translations on my pages).