Shafia Honour Killings: A Giant Gap Between Civilizations

• Tweet

• Tweet

The Shafia (wealthy Afghan-Canadian) family honour killings shocked our nation as they displayed a barbarity and cruelty unique to cold blooded killers. These people weren’t what we would consider cold-blooded killers – but the murders were definitely premeditated, cold-blooded acts. For a father, his wife and son to conspire to murder their own family (a second wife and three daughters) and believe they are right to do so is so horrifying and so far from our consciousness as a civil society that we can scarcely comprehend that this is an acceptable way of life in some countries today. And to think that murdering someone is justified as a matter of honour is as absurd and offensive to us as stoning adulterers would be – it simply does not enter our minds.

The presiding judge over the murder case said it right: “It is difficult to conceive of a more despicable, more heinous crime … the apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honour…that has absolutely no place in any civilized society.”

What outraged Canadians are saying about the case is generally two things: One, they are satisfied that justice was served and a firm precedent was set and two, obviously some immigrants are simply unwilling to adapt to our society and culture. They believe their personal and religious beliefs supercede the laws of our land. And this case clearly shows us the vast canyon that lies between our society and that of the Middle East; it shows us the fierce polarization of two civilizations. As much as some progressive individuals would like to accommodate and tolerate – in the name of equality – beliefs and customs that are uncomfortable and perhaps offensive to our civilized system, we will never stoop so low to justify murder out of religious conviction; we will never accept that wrong doing in the name of “honour” has any place in our society.

The concept of honour, as noble as such a concept may seem, is antiquated and quaint, and within the context of honour killings, barbaric. A family’s honour and the honour of one’s name and the perceived necessity of preserving it has long fueled bloodshed, wars, duels,etc. In such a world, in order to prevent shame you must always observe the strictest guidelines of your society and if you or another does not then severe consequences follow. While these systems still exist in the world, for those of us living in “civil” and “enlightened” societies they are impossible to imagine. Our North American idea of honour is our reputation, and we are free to do what we like with it. Generally we would like our own name and even our family’s name to be thought well of, but just browse through your friend’s facebook profile and you quickly see that we are quite comfortable associating ourselves with anything we want. My point is that the thinking and beliefs which motivated the Shafia family to kill their own has no place in our nation or in any civilized society. And just as the presiding judge deliberately used “civil’ to pointedly distinguish our society from a Middle Eastern society that espouses “honour killings” among other things, I likewise use it to make a similar distinction.

What is interesting about this case is that while we are outraged by it and demand justice, I don’t see a stigma attached to the system that allowed this to happen – Sharia law and Islamic cultural codes. For example, the priest abuse scandals that plague the Catholic church have left an indelible mark on their credibility and ministry. The exposure of these priests and their crimes was desperately needed in order to reveal to an otherwise incredulous public that wrong doing was not only alive and well but indeed entrenched in the clergy system. But though justice has been served and is being served and regardless of how much justice is dispatched by the courts, it is the stigma and the stain upon the Church that will last the longest and punish the most and hopefully deter repeat offenses most efficiently.

So I wonder aloud, will the Shafia case, which is only partly about murder and mostly about a small clash between two cultures, be treated just as a heinous crime that was avenged by our legal system? Or is it a first glimpse into a bigger and more sinister issue?

Here is an excellent video exploring the issue of honour killings in Canada and the plight of Muslim women.