SIC declares honour killings un-Islamic

Self-prescribed standards of honour based on which honour killings were carried out were rooted in ignorance

LAHORE: Sunni Ittehad Council Pakistan, an influential religious-political party from the Barelvi school of thought, has issued a religious decree (fatwa) declaring ‘honour killings’ un-Islamic.

According to the fatwa, endorsed by more than 40 clerics, honour killings such as the one in Lahore last week where a mother burned here daughter alive for marrying of her free will is against Islamic teachings. They said considering honour killing as legitimate is un-Islamic.

The edict noted Islam gave adult women the right to marry according to their free will and does not allow murder in the name of honour.

“All clerics have severely condemned it [burning of the girl in Lahore] and declared it an unlawful, unconstitutional, undemocratic, unethical and unjustifiable act that must be stopped by the state at any cost,” said SIC Punjab General Secretary Mufti Saeed Rizvi.

The fatwa said self-prescribed standards of honour and respect based on which honour killings were carried out were rooted in ignorance as religion has nothing to do with it. It called on the state to stop such killing through effective legislation and declare honour killings as a non-bailable offence. It also urged the religious and political parties and the media to play their respective roles in spreading awareness.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2016.