2005

In the Name of Honour

Kristina Touzenis

Introduction

And one of His marvels is that He created mates for you from yourselves, that you may find rest in them. And He created love and compassion between you. (Quran xxx, 21)

UNICEF defines Honour killings as an ancient practice in which men kill female relatives in the name of family 'honour' for forced or suspected sexual activity outside marriage, even when they have been victims of rape. Reports indicate that offenders are often under 18 and that in their communities they are sometimes treated as heroes. These killings have been reported in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, the West Bank, and Gaza, as well as Jordan, according to published reports. Equality Now, an international women's human rights group, reports that honour killings also occur in countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, India, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. Even though such crimes are widely known to be under-reported, the U.N. Population Fund estimates that more than 5,000 women are killed for reasons of honour every year.

Writing and reading this paper one must always keep in mind that there is not such a thing as "the Islamic world" - there is a great part of the world and of the world's population which live with and under Islamic law and religion, but it is much more of a diversity than the term leads to believe. So when I treat the problem of "honour crimes" committed to women in "the Islamic world" there exists a great part of this world where we find different conditions than those described here. Further "Islamic law" is not just one entity - but a combination of custom, Shari'a and modern state-law, this is will be taken into further consideration where it falls naturally within the context of the paper. The first part of the paper will mainly deal with the aspect of women's rights under the Islamic law seen in the light of honour killings. Again I have to stress that I am only dealing with parts of the Muslim world, wherein we find a lot of diversity. Next it is in this part of the paper the idea to give an impression of the importance of custom and state law in Islamic law. I will then get into the criminal law aspect, but since the main purpose of this paper is to investigate the condition of women under Islamic law, this will be a minor part. It is however important to know the different categories in which crimes are divided and understand in which the murders belongs - and perhaps more to investigate what kind of crime women could be and are considered to have committed. I will finish by taking are more sociological approach and try to understand why these crimes of honour are accepted in some part of the Muslim world. Why are so many girls punished in the most terrible way by relatives who believe they have law and religion on their side? And why does the society accept and perhaps even encourage a thing that perhaps has no foundation in Shari'a or religion? Could politics play a part? I will finish my introduction by stressing that this paper by no means try to give definite conclusions - it has to be far to short for that. I am merely trying to give an idea of what could be the right conclusions, taking a look at formal Islamic law, and at last bringing in the cultural and sociological level.

Women in the Law

Getting rid of the stereotype

Indeed, few issues have excited as much debate and fascination as the subject of women and Islam, and few subjects has created such confusion. (...) The whole matter is so charged with emotion and paranoia that to attempt a cool evaluation of exactly what are the rights of women under Islam is no easy matter (1)

In most societies, if not almost all, there has been male dominance during times. When looking at Islam and Islamic legislation the Quran can be seen to be in favour of an equal status between sexes. As the case is with all legal documents they are interpreted by jurists - or politicians - and can obtain quite different meanings than their original one. The same verses can be given different connotations according to what the person reading them is searching for. Today we find ourselves dealing with two types of readings: the modernist and the traditionalist. The latter giving women a position beneath that of men. (2) Where the Quran may have given women an equal position in early times of Islam they later lost this equality. (3) And modernists in fact find other ways of reading the verses considering women's status. (4)

What we foremost have to understand from this, is that it is not the Quran, that is Islamic law's utmost source, that gives women an unequal position - in fact it is possible to read the Quran in favour of equality between sexes, if it is accepted to read it with a modern approach and if it is acknowledged that in fact the verses give women "an revolutionary Islamic image" as some writers state. (5) It is important to remember that most Islamic jurisprudence, fiqh, was developed between the 7^th and 11^th century, and thus even if the relationship between man and God can be considered settled the interpersonal relationships between worshippers is not, since Islamic law does not give answers to the problems of today's society. (6) Islamic law can be extended to cover today's society when using interpretation, ijtihad which was a recognised source of law before the socalled "closing of the doors of ijtihad which to a certain extent stopped the dynamic evolution of Islamic law and science, which Europe at a certain point admired and lacked behind. Following the eternal moral and philosophical messages that can be found in the primary sources, Islamic law can easily not only adopt to modernity, but help form modernity in a spirit of equality and fairness.

Even if one reads the Quran with a view to find oppressing rules it is legitimate to understand it, as an expression for what was the social and economic circumstances in the Arabic world of the seventh century and not a determination of how women are supposed to live today. (7) This can be underlined by the fact that the Quran can be "divided" into two books - one written in Mecca and one in Medina. The Mecca part deals with moral and spiritual questions and can be understood as the guideline for today's rules. It will be these verses that can lay down the order of today's society, and straying away from these moral messages would be against Islam. Which is quite different from reading the Medina verses as verses connected to the Medina society in the 7^th century. This interpretation is sustained by the fact that it was in Medina the Islamic culture and social order developed, it is therefore quite expected that the verses formed here deal with the regulations of a society in the making in the 7^th century. The oppressors are then the interpreters reading the Quran or in some cases leaders of societies - big or small - sticking to traditions and customs, which serve them.

The Arab society is an expressed patriarchal one, men being expected to be the stronger and woman the weaker. This results in a strong polarisation of the sexes. (8)One of the effects of this patriarchal society is that men has a lot more freedom, especially when it comes to the sexual sphere. But that cannot only be accredited to Islam, it is a consequence of social circumstances and of customary behaviour too. Perhaps here it would be sound to remember that the Western moral still have traces of this too. "Honour" killings of women (and occasionally their male "partners in crime") reflect longstanding patriarchal-tribal traditions. In a bizarre duality, women are viewed on the one hand as fragile creatures who need protection and on the other as evil Jezebels from whom society needs protection. Patriarchal tradition casts the male as the sole protector of the female so he must have total control of her. If his protection is violated, he loses honour because either he failed to protect her or he failed to bring her up correctly. (9) It is also important to notice that different regimes in different periods and different countries with the Muslim faith as the main religion, have given women different legal statuses, (10) which underlines how interpretations of the Shari'a is more determining for women's status than the Shari'a itself in certain cases.

Islam underlines individual responsibility and the direct responsibility of man towards God. The problem of "honour killings" is not a problem of morality or of ensuring that women maintain their own personal virtue; rather, it is a problem of domination and power over women who, in these instances, are viewed as nothing more than servants to the family, both physically and symbolically.

Justifying killings in the name of honour

Honour crimes are not specific to any religion, nor are they limited to any one region of the world. Human Rights Watch has worked on this issue in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Although there is increased awareness of this issue, states remain reluctant to take the necessary steps to end impunity for honour killings. In Jordan, if a woman seeks protection from the police because she fears that her family wants to kill her, she will be held in indefinite detention in a local prison. It is important to note that once a woman has sought protection from the government and has been placed in prison, she is prohibited according to the government's policy from leaving the prison even though she has committed no crime. Ironically, women can only be released into the custody of a family member -- perhaps the very persons trying to kill them. If these women are killed, they are buried in unmarked graves and their very existence often denied. In some cases however strange it may seem, being in prison can be women's only rescue - as long as she is not released she cannot suffer the wrath or her family. In Jordan a number of women are in this sort of "protective custody", often after having been raped - it is an absolutely absurd situation that the victim's only possibility is to be imprisoned in order to avoid an even worse assault and the offender might be at large.

Honour crimes are a clear violation of women's human rights and states are bound to protect women from such violations. Nonetheless, in many countries, honour crimes are either condoned through government inaction or defended as legitimate cultural practices. As a result, police fail to investigate these crimes and prosecutions are non-existent. In the rare cases where a man in prosecuted, it is the woman's behaviour that becomes the focus of the trial, not the culpability of the defendant. In the even rarer case that a man is found guilty, the man's claim that it was a crime committed to restore family honour allows the courts to reduce the sentence. (11)

Nowhere in the Quran do we find verses which allow the crimes of honour here discussed. But still the assassins find the justification for their crime in Islamic legislation. Here it is important to mention that the justification could be found in state laws or in the customs of the area which brings it under the law of an Islamic country - but saying that killings of honour is alright because of what is mentioned is the Quran is a huge mistake. Perhaps the kind of crimes committed and the punishment given correspond with the criminal law in the Shari'a as will be examined later on, but a specific verse accepting or encouraging the killings of women due to her choice of man is not to be found. As will be seen in the following, even if the punishment correspond with one laid down in the Shari'a, Islam does not condone that people take the law into their own hand, actually it tried to abandon the tribal way of punishing with constant private retaliations, laying down specific rules and punishments. The law obeyed in these cases is traditional customary law, not the Shari'a.

When looking at state laws the picture seems to differ slightly between states. In almost every Arab penal code an article giving reduction of punishment when the man has found his wife in an embarrassing situation. Some giving the possibility of reduction of punishment, some even of exemption. Some states' penal codes excuse only the husband, some excuse sons, brothers and fathers too. As an exception the Algerian law excuses both husband and wife. (12) I tend to believe that the Algerian code excuses crimes of passion - the others crimes of honour. Obviously excusing these crimes by giving reduction or even exemption of punishment legalises and gives acceptance to crimes of this kind.

Tradition is very important factor in this complexity of legal, religious and social impacts. Traditionally women's virginity has been closely connected to men's honour. (13) So when a woman acts in a way which bring ridicule to the men of the family, those who's responsibility it is to "control" women, they must restore the family's honour, and that can be done be punishing her - by killing her. The fact that women's virginity is a "social question for him" (14) will be considered later in the sociological part of this paper, but as is obvious sociology and jurisprudence are often hard to separate.

A short intro to proper conduct

One can easily get the impression that relationships in a world where the sexes are polarised to an extended degree, have difficult conditions even when they are approved of by the partners' families. Again we have to turn to social and traditional reasons to why these rules appear. As mentioned the patriarchal society encompasses an idea of women being weak and defenceless - and outside the home danger awaits, (15) especially perhaps, the danger of sexual weakness and immorality. Women who choose to be with a man of their own choice, violate these rules when she meets with him. Generally she shows disrespect towards her family. Again it is a question of disobedience and honour.

But a devout Muslim should certainly never take another life. In reality, such tragedies have nothing to do with true faith. The father's sense of shame at his daughter's actions lead to him taking her life in the erroneous belief that this act would redeem the family name. The concept of respect or izzat is a very strong motivating factor, regardless of religious affiliation. Its origins appear to stem from tribal, clan or village origins. This is in sharp contradistinction to the teachings of Islam, in which it is held that all individuals are personally responsible for their own actions. Thus the father's un-Islamic action is in fact liable for punishment under Islamic law.

In Iraq after the allies' invasion, according to reports provided by police, court officials and doctors at Baghdad's forensic institute, the number of victims of honour killings in Iraq since US invasion has gone up in hundreds. Many government offices require female employees to wear a veil at work. Women who once felt free to dress in Western clothing and shop alone now must wear a hejab, the traditional Muslim head scarf, when venturing outside. (16) If traditional society is allowed to take over, as a response to foreign occupation and "modern" values, which it is fair to assume can become associated with this occupation, Iraqi women will soon have to seclude themselves to avoid these practices - which is exactly what these practices is all about. Obviously the resolution to this problem is sadly far away, but engaging in a constructive dialogue with Muslim moderates - or rather Muslim majority (it very often seems that we speak of "Muslim Moderates" as if they were extremely hard to dig up, when actually it is the extremists who are in minority, but who get the more attention and whose actions have the serious consequences) might be an important part of the solution.

The criminal-law approach

What is her offence?

If the woman has been accused, justly or not, of some infidelity from flirting to an affair - even if she has been raped - she is "defiling the honour" of the man who claims her as his property (17)

Women could bee considered to have committed the crime of Zina. This crime, extramarital sexual activity, includes both adultery and fornication. It takes four eye-witnesses or confessions to be convicted to a hadd punishment which in this case is stoning to death if the offender is married or one hundred whiplashes if he/she is unmarried. (18) Since it rarely occurs that four persons has actually witnessed the lovemaking, hadd punishment is rarely applied and instead the Tazir punishment (19) is used. This form of punishment, being at the discretion of the authorities, varies but can give the offender imprisonment for until 10 years, 30 lashes and a fine whether they are married or not. (20) Obviously the killings of women cannot all be founded on the evidence of four witnesses, which implies that the punishment is not in conformity with the punishment measured out by the Shari'a. Another proof why it is not acceptable to regard the killings as a, twisted, kind of taking the law into ones one hands, is that the Zina-offence does not include flirting, or marrying without permission, all acts for which women are killed.

On the other hand, a woman falsely accused of zina can find support in the Qur'an, which spells out harsh consequences for those accusers who are unable to support their allegations with four witnesses. The Prophet Muhammad was known for his moderation, even if the accusations met the criteria. In addition, there is no evidence whatsoever that he condoned any form of retribution that singled out women and he was swift to ensure that those accused of any crime, received due process to guarantee justice. It is important to know that all innocent lives are equal in Islam. All are equal in the eyes of God: "...if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people...". (21) These private executions are thus illegal since women are given no due process as they should, and the state's inactivity is likewise so, not only based on international law under which the state is obliged to protect the victims and if not able to do so is obliged to prosecute the offenders, but under Islamic law. The two set of norms are completely compatible and congruent.

In Jordan in autumn 2003 a law raising the punishment for honour killings was proposed in parliament. Islamists and conservatives opposed to the new law said it would encourage vice and destroy social values. Another bill - allowing women to divorce their husbands - was referred to a parliamentary legal committee for further review. In August, the upper house, or Senate, upheld both bills, after they were rejected by the lower house. But Jordanian MPs argued that more lenient punishments will violate religious traditions and damage the fabric of Jordan's conservative society, where men have the final say. However bucking tradition, Jordan has taken public steps to eliminate the practice. In 1998, said al-Sabbagh, the Government established a family protection unit within the Public Security Directorate to investigate and deal with crimes committed within the family, including crimes of honour. This of course is an important step in the right direction, but it needs to be followed up by legislative steps in order to make sure that honour killings are punished properly and not in any way condoned by the state apparatus.

Lastly it has to be underlined that women flirting have not committed a crime liable to killing. One must look at customs and sociological aspects to explain why they are punished, and at last but not least look at the punishment - or lack of same - given to men who kill in the name of honour, to understand why so many women are murdered and why so few in society seem to object.

What is his offence?

Suppose I kill my wife (...) I walk like a king to the jail. People come and hold a march for me. And I go free (22)

Murder in Islam is considered a serious crime against the person - exactly at it is in other religions and legal systems. However it is a crime against man, not against God as are the Hudood-offences, unlike Zina which is a Hadd (Hudood in singular) offence. The crime of murder is a Quesas-offence - that is a crime against man with a punishment laid down in the Quran - and when committed as wilful murder, as are the killings in question here, it takes two witnesses or a confession to be convicted. The punishment could be either death by retaliation by the victims family (23) (here the victims family is also the offenders family which rends the possibility of this kind of punishment remote) a compensation in the form of money to the family (24) - that poses the same problem as above. Or pardon. (25) Considering the nature of the crime pardon seems to be the obvious "punishment". Obviously today murder is punished according to provisions in penal codes, that is most often with prison sentences.

The police almost invariably takes the male's side in honour killings and domestic murders, and rarely prosecute the killers. Even when the men are convicted, the judiciary ensures that they usually receive a light sentence, reinforcing the view that males can kill their female relatives with virtual freedom. Governments are failing to take the basic steps needed to protect females, thereby governments share responsibility for the torture, suffering and killing of all females, whether the perpetrator is, or is not, a family member. Looking outside traditional Shari'a it has already been established that the state laws by reducing or even exempt punishment in these cases legalise the killings. It seems like it is not as much Shari'a law as customs and modern state law designed to keep up status quo that allow or even encourage the honour killings to continue.

In Syria article 548 states that "He who catches his wife or one of his ascendants, descendants or sister committing adultery (flagrante delicto) or illegitimate sexual acts with another and he killed or injured one or both of them benefits from an exemption of penalty." In Morocco where Article 418 of the Penal Code states "Murder, injury and beating are excusable if they are committed by a husband on his wife as well as the accomplice at the moment in which he surprises them in the act of adultery." According to article 340 of the Jordanian criminal code, "a husband or a close blood relative who kills a woman in a situation highly suspicious of adultery will be totally exempt from sentence." It is laws like this and ignorance towards or condoning of honour killings that hamper the ability of authorities to stop them. The police and other officials pass off the crimes as domestic matters or just accept or ignore the killings. (26) The unsuccessful attempt to amend this penal code is a proof of how strong custom is and how little willingness we find to alter the existing power structure of which these killings from part and keep enforcing. In is obvious in these cases how state law takes on its own interpretation of the Shari'a and institutionalises the violation of women's rights. State law and Shari'a are however to different systems, even if they live side by side, and even if on the ideological or propaganda level are intermingled, in the sense that Shari'a is invoked as justification for state laws and where these are supposedly is based on the former. In this case, as shown, the foundation is false.

The sociological aspect

In The Name Of Honour

Why is it called "honour-killings" like if the word "honour" somehow justifies the action of "killing"? The quite simple answer to this is, that it is because it actually does. If it is a question of saving ones honour it does justify killing. If a man lets his female relative (it depends on the geographical area how near a relative she should be) behave improperly, he then suffers social punishments (27).

"She is my sister -- my flesh and blood -- I am a human being. I didn't want to kill her. I didn't want to be in this situation. They [community members] push[ed] me to make this decision. I know what they expect from me. If I do this, they look at me like a hero, a clean guy, a real man. If I don't kill my sister, the people would look at me like I am a small person." (28) This statement is a clear indicator of how custom and social pressure are the determining factors when someone kills for his honour.

The name of honour is paradoxically closely linked to the concept of virginity. Men has to protect the female virginity, and this becomes a question of honour. If he fails his responsibility he is subject to shame. (29) These are the keywords in understanding how tradition keeps on encouraging these killings; Virginity, Honour, and Shame. All three set in a context of the word "Group". (30) As we all know, and perhaps have experienced, the need to be accepted and respected within one's group - be it friends, family or general social norms imposed by society and accepted as normal behaviour by our community, may seriously influence our actions, so that we act as is expected from us, perhaps so we act as our parents and grandparents acted before us - perhaps so we act by killing one of our relatives. The fact that men will be subjected to ridicule, that they will no longer be considered real men and not respected can - as anyone with just a tiny idea of how psychological pressure works - be considered one huge group pressure, and as a social being longing for and in need of approval a man will to a great extent behave as the group, the society, requires, or is perceived to require.

After the former colonial powers seized to be powers and the former colonised states became independent, the big legislation-project was to modernise civil laws, while trying to incorporate the traditional Shari'a into the modern law. (31) When the development of the country or the world requires it, laws could and can be altered to fit the new situation. Even the religious institutions, who was part of the elite could adapt texts to fit the new situation. (32) The striking element here is that when it came to change the legislation on women, with regards to marriage and divorce among others, the legislators suddenly stopped being decisive an dynamic. (33) It should here be noted that custom and state laws both define the situation of women - as already shown custom has an extremely central role (34) - but state laws take part in determine the "framework" and in controlling people's lives. (35)

As mentioned, we are dealing with a patriarchal society as many others, and in this one Islam has been used to legitimise the suppression of women (36) and thereby kept the suppresser in power. Even the Christian Church suppressed women, (and it could perhaps be fair to say that some parts of the Catholic Church have not yet quite stopped). The suppression of women is not foremost due to religious ideologies then, but to the fact, that almost every society has its roots in a patriarchal and a class-divided systems. Today also the rise of fundamentalist movements keep women in an inferior position, since all fundamentalisms try to return to a "golden age" women's position is extremely important to them, to keep society away from modern "evils". These movements are however political in their essence, even when the use religion as a tool to obtain their goals.

In this context it is only fair to mention that women's role in these killings is not non-existent, on the contrary. Women's role has often been underappreciated. Occasionally, they participate directly in the killings. More frequently, they actually play a leading role in preparing the ground. In Palestine, for example, women can act as instigators and collaborators in these murders, unleashing a torrent of gossip that spurred the accusations. (37) Jordanian women running for parliament have also been reluctant to break the taboo on condemning and prosecuting honour killings; one told the Manchester Guardian Weekly that "This is our tradition. We do not want to encourage women who break up the family." (38)

State legislation has, in the name of God, excused killings in the name of honour - even though God has not allow it. It is a question of maintaining power, of using religion as an excuse. It is not erroneous to say, that in many cases the motivation to commit the crimes of honour is the pressure from the community - as seen in the statement of a young offender above - and this pressure emerge from the strong contact with the past; when the elders tells a young man to kill a family member who has acted improperly he has to do it. (39)

Conclusion

I have in this paper tried to give an impression of how women's position is under Islamic law - consisting of both traditional Shari'a, customs and state law, by investigating in what way and to what extend the killings in the name of honour are accepted or even legalised.

As already stated this cannot be a final conclusion - there is much to much diversity in the Muslim world - be it cultural, customary or social - to even try to pass this tiny piece of work of as a complete account of circumstances and facts of life, religion and law on this point. Nor can it be the final and definite conclusion to what I set out to answer. But this is my contribution to an ongoing.

I have to state that perhaps I have tried to say too much on too little space - I can only say: "But there is so much too say - a lot more than has already been said !". There could have been more profound thoughts on the criminal law aspect.

The legal base for the "justification" of honour killings and the lack of punishment of the offenders cannot be found in the Shari'a. Furthermore General oppression of women is not a Shari'a based practice, but what we could call a fiqh and custom based practice. Traditions and custom play a significant role when it comes to making people accepting the crimes. So does the various state laws when they almost do not punish the crimes. The reason for this has to be found once more in the wish to maintain the old structures of society. Women are not only suppressed veiled persons without a voice of their own. There are to a lot of well educated women who rise above the picture here presented, a quite telling - but horrible - example in this particular context, is the story of a young woman murdered by her parents on a count of her falling in love - she was murdered in the office of her female lawyer. (40) This truly shows how different the conditions are - even within the same geographical area, and in this case even in the same social class. But the problems that women face in a patriarchal society so dominated by traditions of old men cannot be ignored.

Of course the solution to a problem like this is not just to change the laws. It is a question of changing a whole system.

Bibliography

• Abu-Odeh, Lama: Crimes of honour and the Construction of gender in Arab Societies. In Feminism and Islam. Ed. Mai Yamani. Garnet Publishing Limited. Berkshire, UK. 1996. p 141-184
• Armstrong, S. Controversy: honour's victims. Chatelaine, p 55-61. March 2000
• Baderin, Mashood A: Establishing Areas of Common Ground between Islamic Law and International Human Rights. The International Journal of Human Rights, Vol 5, No. 2, Summer 2001, pp 72-113
• El Saadawi, Nawal. The Hidden face of Eve. Zed Books. 1980
• Engineer, Ali Asghar: The Rights of women. C. Hurst & Co. Ltd. London. Printed in India, 1996.
• Karmi, Ghada: Women and Patriarchalism. In Feminism and Islam" ed. Mai Yamani. Garnet Publishing Limited. Berkshire, UK. 1996. p 69-83
• Lippman, Mathew; McConville, Sean; Yerushalmi, Mordechai. Islamic Criminal Law and Procedure. New Yourk. USA. 1988
• Mehdi, Rubya; Shaheed, Farida: Women's Law in Legal Education and Practice in Pakistan. New Social Science Monographs. Copenhagen. 1997.
• Mehdi, Rubya: Muslimske kvinders Juridiske Rettigheder - en Pluralistisk indfaldsvinkel. In "Retfaerd" n. 62. Denmark, 1993
• Zima, Suzanne, "When Brothers Kill Sisters" The Gazette, Montreal, April 17, 1999.

Notes

1. Karmi, Ghada: Women and Patriarchalism p 72

2. Engineer, Ali Asghar: The Rights of women p 42

3. Karmi, Ghada p 73,75

4. Engineer, Ali Asghar p 57

5. Ibid. p 58

6. Baderin p 78

7. Mehdi, Rubya p 64

8. Engineer, Ali Asghar p 58

9. Armstrong, S. Controversy: honour's victims. Chatelaine, p 55-61. March 2000

10. Karmi, Ghada p 81

11. Human Rights Watch. Item 12 - Integration of the human rights of women and the gender perspective: Violence Against Women and "Honor" Crimes

12. Horisont

13. Abu-Odeh, Lama: Crimes of honour and the Construction of Gender in Arab Societies. p 144-45

14. Ibid. p 149-53

15. Ibid. p 6-7

16. Occupation watch: "Honour Killings Haunt Iraqi Women".

17. Abu-Odeh, Lama. p 10

18. Goodman, Ellen: Honor Killings" of Women get away with Murder. Herald Tribune. 28 March 2000

19. Tazir offences are offences whose punishment is measured out by the authorities, not by the Shari'a

20. Lippman, Mathew; McConville, Sean; Yerushalmi, Mordechai. Islamic Criminal Law and Procedure. p 56

21. The Qur'an 5:32

22. Goodman, Ellen: Honor Killings" of Women get away with Murder. Herald Tribune. 28 March 2000

23. Ibid.

24. Lippman, Mathew; McConville, Sean; Yerushalmi, Mordechai p 43

25. Ibid

26. Kayla White. Honor Killings.

27. Horisont - DR Television, Denmark 3^rd of March 2000

28. Zima, Suzanne, "When Brothers Kill Sisters" The Gazette, Montreal, April 17, 1999.

29. Abu-Odeh, Lama p 152

30. Ibid. p 153

31. Ibid. p 157

32. El Saadawi, Nawal. The Hidden face of Eve

33. Ibid.

34. Mehdi, Rubya; Shaheed, Farida: Women's Law in Legal Education and Practice in Pakistan p 35

35. Ibid. p 24

36. Karmi, Ghada p 82

37. Ilana Mercer. Research shows women can be as beastly as men. Calgary Herald 20^th April 2000

38. Rana Husseini, Julian Borger, "In Cold Blood" The Guardian Weekly, 16 November 1997

39. Horisont. DR1 Television, Denmark. 3rd of March 2000

40. Horisont. DR1 Television, Denmark. 3rd of March 2000