Killed in name of honour

The Mail and Guardian ^ | 6/28/05 | Chris McGreal

[RonF]

Are honor killings common in Islamic parts of the world, yes or no?

If I can trust the news reports, they certainly seem to happen a lot more in certain Middle Eastern Muslim-dominated countries than elsewhere. But that's not my point. My point is that such killings are not unique to Moslem-dominated countries, and that because of that it's wise to consider that their cause is at root a non-religious cultural construct, one that seems to be reinforced by a tribal cultural basis, and one that the religions of these areas (both Islam and Hinduism) have incorporated. And as we have seen in Western Christianity, twisting religion to accomodate popular culture degrades both.

As far as whether they are "common in Islamic parts of the world" - I'd be curious to see what the prevalance of such killings are in non-Arab Islamic countries, such as Indonesia (which has more Moslems than any country in the Middle East) and Iran. And what difference tribal vs. urban culture may make; do these happen proportionately more out in rural areas where tribal customs predominate, or in urban areas where tribal customs lose some of their influence?

[Schwaeky]

Habash?? Sounds like a kin (distant) of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine--a left leaning rival to the PLO and initally on 9/11 believed to be responsible for the attacks) leader, Georges Habash.

[Schwaeky]

I asked a muslim co-worker about this yesterday. ALthough in recent years it has spilled over elsewhere in the Muslim world, it is predominately an arabic practice. Arabs are in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Lybia, Syria, etc. With the exception of SA, where no other religion is allowed, the others have substantial minorities of Arab Christians, and before Muhammad's rise to power in what is now SA, Christianity was one of the major religions. But religion is not the relevant factor as much as arabic culture. Honor killing as it is known in the arab middle east doesn't happen in Bosnia, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan. So its an ethnic/cultural thing..