Is Honor Killing A Muslim Phenomenon Analysis

4/4/14

Is Honor Killing a Muslim Phenomenon?

In communities where there is a high occurrence of honor killings, there is a powerful shared belief that honor is the primary value in life. Honor killing is defined as the murder of a family or community member by other members due to the belief that the victim brought shame upon the family or community. In these communities, people use the concepts of honor and shame as a way to assess and maintain a certain level of conduct. Although honor killing is not a solely Muslim phenomenon, it has increasingly become associated with Muslim societies. In his article, “Is Honor Killing a ‘Muslim Phenomenon’? Textual Interpretations and Cultural Representations, ” Recep Dogan (2011) illustrates
When Dogan talks about honor he first notes that the Latin root meaning of “honor” is “…a gender neutral meaning that is associated with reputation or prestige and not compatible with violence (p.425).” Dogan goes on to say that in these societies, “the fragile quality that honor possesses is so intense that a person can feel himself to have been deprived of it even if the dishonorable act is not generally known (p. 425).” This fragile quality of honor ultimately can put an individual under constant pressure and in a state where the individuals constantly needs to prove his honor. I specifically chose the word his because the honor of a man requires him to defend his honor and that of his family. This honor includes the men’s duty to protect the purity and honor of his daughters and wives because, ultimately, their honor is an extension of the father’s honor. Women are viewed as constant threats to a family’s honor because of the wrongful notion that women are easily susceptible to sin along with the belief that that women are sinful from birth. Due to these beliefs, according to Dogan, men confine women to Chardiwari, which translates to “the four walls of the house”. Basically by confining women to the house, women won’t have an urge to sin. Shameful acts are mostly associated with a woman’s behavior and appearance. For example, if a woman does not wear clothes, which the community defines as appropriate, that woman can be punished in any way that community sees fit. Ultimately, based on the article, masculinity is closely associated with honor while shame, the opposite of honor, is closely associated with women in these honor-killing societies. Because of the Qu’ranic misinterpretations, there is an imbalance of equality even