Honor Killing A comparative jurisprudence study

Honor killing is a revengeful killing on the pretext of protecting and defending honor. It is a phenomenon in the Arab and Islamic societies. There is a misconception in many societies that this killing is linked to, and protected by, religion. In fact, it is linked to societal concepts that have nothing to do with religion. This type of killing is a flagrant violation of women’s right to life. Such killings are often perpetrated based on suspicion. The victim loses her right to defend herself, which makes her killing unlike any other. This study stresses that Islamic jurisprudence prohibits all sorts of such a killing and maximizes its punishment since it entails grave injustice and acting against the state’s institutions and its rule of law, let alone the associated psychological, social and economical impacts on individuals and society and public order. Islamic jurisprudence deters crimes before they are perpetrated and, once perpetrated, they are judged according to fair, realistic, objective and firm sharia rulings.http://www.al-azhaar.org/index.php/alazhar/article/view/43