The Practice of 'Girls' Marriage to the Quran' Is Still Prevalent in Pakistan

The provinces of Sind and the Punjab have certain areas where this type of marriage is still continuing

According to several websites, a traditional practice of giving one’s daughter or close female relatives in marriage to the Quran is still persistent in parts of the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.

The Syeds (also written as Saiids or Sayyids) – a high-caste Muslims – who claim descent from Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam in Saudi Arabia and consider themselves superior to other Muslims, still continue this un-Islamic practice without impunity. These Muslims are rich and own large tracts of land in those two provinces of Pakistan. 

This exploitative custom is also known locally as haq bakhish, haq-baksh-wai or haq bakhashwain. In English, this is termed as ‘Quran brides’ or ‘brides of the Quran.’

When suitable husbands are not found according to the liking of the fathers or male guardians, they force the girls to commit the Quran, the holy book of Islam, to memory and hang parts of the Quranic verses around their waist with a cord before they are given in marriage to the holy book. 

This is done not because of the males’ love for religion but for their selfish ends: that is, preventing their lands to be subdivided by way of giving dowry to the outsider husbands of their girls. The undivided lands continue to give them profits.

These ‘Quran brides’ then serve as life-long slaves in their own families working as waitresses and child minders as well as doing all kinds of household chores.

This practice not only goes against the teaching of Islam but also is criminal in nature under Pakistan’s laws. If convicted, the perpetrators are liable to get a seven-year imprisonment. Those who commit this crime is so influential and powerful that none dares complain against them or punish them.

According to the Asharq Al Awsat, an international Arabic newspaper, there were about 10,000 Quran brides in Pakistan in 2007.

The honour killing of girls is another form of exploitation of and violence against women in Pakistan.

For further information, you may read the following:

• The life of slavery of Pakistani women who are forced to marry the Quran
• The lives of Pakistan's 'brides of the Quran'
•  Marriage with the Quran

Some Halloween Decorations in Toronto

The Halloween, originally based on religious aspect of death and Christians' preparation for it, gradually turned into a social event and festivity dominated by ghosts and ghouls. Now it is fully commercialized with the sale of ghostly costumes and paraphernalia which are used for Halloween parties, trick or treat, decorations of houses and offices and so on. 

We present below some photographs depicting decorations of several houses in Toronto.

Halloween decorations in front of different houses in Scarborough, Toronto

Photos (Scarborough, Toronto: Oct. 31, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

The Stoning of Soraya M.: A Film That Depicts the Ultimate Example of Honour Killing

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In the movie, Soraya's hands are being tied on her back and she is
being made to stand in a waist-deep hole before her stoning death
Photo courtesy: http://movies.nytimes.com/

In a recent evening, a film title in the Rogers cable channel drew my attention. The title of the film was The Stoning of Soraya M. I immediately viewed it and was overwhelmed by the intensity of the portrayal of honour killing in the name of the religion of Islam.

This 2008 film, directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh Aghdashloo, an Iranian living in the USA, is based on the real-life story portrayed in the 1994 book, The Stoning of Soraya M., by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. The book had become an international bestseller at the time.

Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Jesus Christ in The Passion of the Christ film, acted as the French-Iranian journalist in this movie.

Summary of the Story

Soraya is a simple Iranian village wife. Her ambitious and cunning husband, in course of his job in a local prison, comes in contact with a condemned man's early teen daughter. He wants to marry her. As he wouldn't be able to bear two wives' expenses at the same time, he puts pressure on his present wife to agree to divorce him. She refuses to do so. This angers the husband so much so that he looks for ways to get rid of her.

The husband then goes to influence and manipulate the local mullah (religious priest) and village mayor (headman). He also spreads rumour that his wife committed adultery with a man whose wife died sometime earlier. The Islamic Shariah law requires two male witnesses to the adultery to make it a crime and eligible for the person involved in adultery (in most cases, the voiceless female) to be stoned to death. The husband, mullah and the village mayor wield unjust influence and cunning in getting innocent Soraya officially condemned to death by stoning.

The saddest thing is, Soraya's own elderly father believes her husband and his co-conspirators. He also condemns her and blames her for bringing in shame and dishonour to her husband and the village.

On a set date, a waist-deep hole is dug in the village public square where most of the villagers -- men, women and children -- are present. In the meantime, the influential perpetrators use some very young boys to collect egg to fist size stones from nearby hilly roadsides. Soraya is then brought to the square and made to enter the hole and stand upright. Two villagers then cover up the hole around her with the dugup earth. Now she is unable to move her legs on any angle.

The mullah then gives a short speech to the crowd and begins the stoning ceremony in God's name. Soraya's father is given a stone to be pelted at his daughter from a marked distance. He fails to strike her. Another stone is given and, again, he fails -- not because he is pitiful towards his daughter but because he does not have enough strength as an old guy to throw the stone straight at Soraya.

The husband of Soraya gets furious. He snaps a stone and throws it straight at her with all his might. It strikes her so hard that blood begins to shoot out from the wound. He pelts her another time with the same result.

The father gives stones to his two pre-teen sons to do the same. They hesitate, they quiver. On egging, they take the stones and hit her hard. Then there is public frenzy. As if it is a spectacle to be enjoyed like the ancient Romans viewing the gladiatorial fights in the coliseum. Men give their approval, some women express their satisfaction on their face. Male crowd also pick up stones and repeatedly strike at her. Soraya is covered in blood. At one time, the upper portion of her body falls on the ground like a rag-doll. The husband rushes to Soraya's devastated body to check if she actually died or not. He finds that one of her closed eyes half-opened for a time. He shouts out that she isn't dead yet! More stones fall on her. Finally, Soraya leaves this cruel and pitiless world.

Everyone leaves the square without touching Soraya's corpse. The adulteress is not to be buried. In the evening, Soraya's aunt gathers some women to take out her body from the closed hole and carry her dead body to a nearby river bank. They leave the body there covered in a chaddor (shawl). The body was later devoured by wild animals.

Sometime after Soraya's death by stoning in 1986, a French-Iranian journalist, on a trip through that remote, dusty and stony village in north-western Iran, gets stranded due to breakdown of his car. He leaves his car with a man for repair. When Soraya's aunt comes to know of this journalist, she surreptitiously contacts him and takes him to her house. She tells the complete story of the stoning death of Soraya to be recorded in his cassette-tape recorder. After evading prying eyes and physical confrontation with the perpetrators, the journalist is able to flee the village with the cassette-tape in his repaired car.

What do viewers learn from this film?

• In the Islamic societies, the Shariah law is supposed to be implemented for actual cases of adultery. In this real case in Iran, the law was used as a tool of the influential and powerful people to take revenge on an innocent woman to serve their own purpose. Fictitious accusations were brought against Soraya to get rid of her.
  
• It shows, in a male-dominated society, how a group of sly, vindictive and conniving men can use the Shariah law to reach their evil goals.
• In a mostly illiterate or half-literate society, tribalism and patriarchal culture prevails to the detriment of the rights and status of women. In such a society, honour killing in the name of religion will never be eradicated.
• Many males easily fall victim to the false propaganda and accusations of the influential men. When they see the revered mullah and village headman participate in these machinations, they easily believe them and act accordingly.
• The sacrifice of Soraya is the ultimate example of an honour killing in an Islamic society.

Happy Valentine's Day to All!

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Valentine's Day Image
Graphics (Toronto: February 13, 2010) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Most of the world observes today as the Valentine's Day as an expression of their love for near and dear ones.

This day first started in Europe and it has an interesting background influenced by the Roman Catholic Church.

Wish you all a happy Valentine's Day!

Today is the Halloween Day

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A Jack-o'-lantern (a hollowed-out pumpkin
 with a candle inside)

Art by Jennifer Tibbits @ the courtesy

 of http://www.catholicgreetings.org/

Today is the Halloween Day. This day is celebrated, mostly in the western world, on every October 31 -- the day before the feast of All Hallows' Day or officially called All Saints' Day. The word halloween is the short form of All Hallow E'en (holy evening).

The Background of the Halloween

More than two thousand years ago, the pagan Celtic tribes of Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Brittany used to observe this day as the last day of summer and the advent of winter. On this occasion, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, the Lord of the Dead. It was believed that the souls of the dead returned on this night and mixed with the living. Moreover, on this day, the Celts also took stock of their harvested grains and killed cows, goats and sheep and stocked the meat for use in coming winter months. To prevent the returning dead from causing harm by sickness and plague or by crop damage, people set bonfires and threw bones of slaughtered livestock on them. They also wore ghostly costumes and masks (witches, ghouls, skeletal figures, and the like) so that the dead souls might think that the living people were ones of their own and abstain from causing them any harm.

The Christian Aspect of the Halloween

In 835 A.D., Pope Gregory IV tried to Christianize the festival by moving the celebration of Christian martyrs (later called Saints) from May 13 to November 1. November 2 is observed as the All Souls' Day. These two feasts have been placed together to remember the dead -- who are saints as well as others who may or may not be saints.

The Modern Halloween

In the mid-1850s, about two million Irish people came to the United States as refugees and migrants. With them came the custom of the Halloween. Gradually, this custom spread all over the USA and Canada with the commercialization of this festival, that is observed by treat-or-tricking, bonfires, costume parties, ghost-story-telling, and the like. Today, Christians and non-Christians alike observe the Halloween Day as part of merry-making.

Happy Halloween to you all!

The Social Tradition of Honour Killing

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"Honour Killing"
Graphic design (Toronto: July 29, 2009) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Montreal's Afghan businessman Mohammad Shafia (56), his second wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya (39) and their son Hamed (18) have been charged recently with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reports National Post.

They are charged for killing Zainab (19), Sahari (17), and Geeti (13) -- all daughters of Mr. Shafia and Mrs. Yahya -- and Mr. Shafia's undivorced first wife Rona Amir Mohammad. These four women's bodies were discovered in a submerged car near the Kingston Mills Locks on the Rideau Canal.

Mohammad's sister Diba Masoomi mentioned in a newspaper interview that Mr. Shafia "believed his daughter had dishonoured him and the family by having a romance with a young Pakistani man in Montreal." The police strongly believe that these were honour killings.

The police believe that it was a premeditated murder that happened in Kingston on their way back to Montreal from a visit to the Niagara Falls.

What is honour killing?

Honour killing means murder (by strangulation, hanging, setting on fire, poisoning, or other means) of a family member belonging to a close-knit male-dominated clan or community for bringing in dishonour on the family, clan or community. Usually, the murder victim is a daughter, sister, wife or mother who is perceived to have brought in dishonour through her unacceptable behaviour or sexual conduct.

This sense of honour is rooted in the age-old tradition and social custom that gives legitimacy and condones such killing. When a family is dishonoured, the tradition or social custom gives a male relative the sanction of killing the "strayed" woman to restore the family honour and good name in the clan or community.

Who does the honour killing?

A male member of the nuclear or extended family commits this murder. He could be one's own brother, father, uncle, grandfather, or nephew.

How can the close relatives commit such a heinous act?

The liberal western society with widespread nuclear families, having individualistic attitude and perspective and, at the same time, enjoying so much personal freedoms and rights guaranteed by the state, will find it difficult to understand the dynamics of honour killing.

To really understand honour killing one has to look at it from wider perspective and take into account the following dynamics:

• This killing is prevalent in societies that are fiercely paternalistic and tribal with strong group mentality and loyalty. These societies think of and give importance to the group (family, clan or society) and not to individuals. So any defiance, disrespect or disobedience to the group is considered an unpardonable offense.
• From the past, this has been a kind of safeguard to keep one's women loyal to one's family, clan or tribe so that outside or alien influence or rival party's interference may not infiltrate through these women. That's why the society supports this practice, that's why those countries' law enforcement agencies support or condone it.
• In some Muslim societies, adultery or illicit sexual liaison is looked upon as a serious moral degradation and dishonour to a family. They practise the age-old tradition that was prevalent in the Old Testament times. In the Torah or Old Testament of the Bible we find that the 7th of the Ten Commandments of God explicitly prohibited adultery: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). "If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die" (Deuteronomy 22:22). "If a man commits adultery with another man's wife -- with the wife of his neighbour -- both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death" (Leviticus 20:10).
• Honour killing is the male assertion of control over women.
  
• The powerful, the upper class or caste people do honour killing to cling on to their status, power and property.
  
• In those societies, no jobs are readily available for women. They just cannot go out on their own to earn a living. There is no social security or old-age benefit. So, a woman, facing honour killing, just cannot go away and live elsewhere. In most cases, the country's law will not favour her.
• Men think that they have ownership over women. Women are considered as chattel (movable property). So, males think that they can do anything with females.
  

Males unwilling to participate in honour killing are ostracized

The clan or society ostracizes the males, who are sympathetic to the straying female or refrain from vindictive murder. These males and their families are avoided by other members of the clan or society. They cannot participate in social functions or enjoy the benefits and security of belonging to the group. Their sons or daughters cannot marry within the group. Daughters will remain unmarried for the rest of her life. This is a tremendous shame on the part of the family in the sense that they failed to raise a good well-behaved daughter, sister, sister-in-law or daughter-in-law.

In case of emergency, none of the clan or tribe members will come to their aid -- either financially or giving protection from enemy. In case of normal death in the family, there will be no participation of the community in burying the dead. This is also considered to be a great shame and failure of the affected family.

So, why carry a life-long burden because of a female member of the family? It's easy to get rid of her and be acceptable to others.

Issues that trigger honour killing

• Marital infidelity (adultery)
• Pre-marital sex (fornication)
• Sexual rumour (of having illicit liaison or sexual relations)
• Incest (illicit sexual relations with an extremely close kin or relative)
  
• Rape (even if it is done against her will, the female is considered to be unclean and spoilt -- none in the group will marry her, ever)
  
• Sexual abuse
• Mixing with or dating a male outside one's own clan, ethnic group, social class, or religion
• Wearing more revealing or provocative dress
• Being alone with a male not belonging to the family or clan

Dowry Deaths are honour killing, too

In Asia, Africa and Europe, the practice of dowry (a bride's giving of money, property or goods to her husband at marriage) was prevalent for many centuries. With increased education, enlightenment, spread of Christianity, Europe gradually could get away from the abuse and misuse of the dowry practice, but in Asia -- especially in South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) -- and in some parts of Africa this practice with its bitter and deadly results are still continuing.

The bridegroom or his parents demand a dowry and, in a good number of cases, if the bride's parents fail to fulfill the demand, the bride is ridiculed, persecuted and, in extreme cases, killed. Then it is claimed that the bride committed suicide (by hanging herself from the ceiling, drowning or poisoning) or died accidentally by catching fire to her clothing when cooking!

It is honour killing in the sense that the honour of the bridegroom's family is lost because the bride's family failed to fulfill the promise of dowry given before the marriage. The bridegroom's family loses its face in the clan or society.

Countries that experience honour killing

Honour killing is frequent in countries from South Asia (Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) to west Asia (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Israel -- among the Palestinian community, Palestine --the West Bank and Gaza Strip), and some parts of north Africa (Egypt, Morocco). Immigrant communities from these countries to Europe (Britain, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the like), North America (Canada and USA) and Australia have their own share of honour killings.

Resources on Honour Killing:

To learn more on the honour killing in different countries, you may visit the following blogs and websites:

• Honor Killings in the East
• Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"
  
• The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women!
• Honour Killing: A Crime Against Islam
• Does Islam Justify Honour Killings?
• Are Honour Killings Simply Domestic Violence?
• No Honour in Honour Killings
• "Honor" Killings (Culture of Discrimination: A Fact Sheet)
  
• There Is No Honor In Honor Killing
  
• Gendercide Watch: Case Study -- "Honour" Killings and Blood Feuds (Focus: Pakistan, Jordan, Palestine, the Balkans)
• Honour Killings: An Expression of Immigrant Alienation
  
• Blogs About Honor Killings
• Reference.com: Articles on Dowry
  
• AUSTRALIA: Honor Killing in Australia
  
• BANGLADESH: Dowries Mean Death and Discrimination for Bangladesh's Women
  
• CANADA: Cultural 'Honour' Killing Brought to Canada
• CANADA: In the Name of Islam: Even More Honor Killings in Canada
• CANADA: Brother Gets Life in Honour Killing
• CANADA: Rise in Canadian 'Honour Killings" Should Not Be Ignored: Expert
• EGYPT: Honor Killings in Egypt
  
• INDIA: Honour Killings on the Rise in India: Women's Group
• INDIA: Dowry Deaths in India
• INDIA: India's Dowry Deaths
• INDIA: Bride Burning and Dowry Deaths in India
  

• IRAQ: Iraq: Women Suffer the Most
  
• IRAQ (video): Honour Killings (An Iraqi Kurd)
• IRAQ (video): Honor Killing -- Iraqi Kurd Girl Stoned
• ITALY: 'Honor Killing' in Italy Spurs Quest for Justice
  
• JORDAN: Jordan: Honour Killings Still Tolerated
• JORDAN: Special Report on Honour Killings
• LEBANON: Lebanon Cleric Bans Honor Killings
  
• PAKISTAN: Honour Killings in Pakistan
• PAKISTAN: Pakistan: Honour Killings of Women and Girls
• PAKISTAN: Dowry: A Socio-Cultural Perspective
• PALESTINE: Honor Killings in Palestine
  
• SAUDI ARABIA: Honor Killing in Saudi Arabia
• SAUDI ARABIA: Honor Killings: Where Next?
• SYRIA: Honour Crime Fear of Syria Women
• SYRIA: Syria Increases Penalty for Honour Killings
• TURKEY: Honor Killings in Turkey
• TURKEY: 'Honour' Crime Defiance in Turkey
• TURKEY (video): United NationsTV -- Turkey: Honour Killings
• TURKEY: Campaigns Against Honour Killings in Turkey
  
• U.K.: Father Found Guilty of Honour Killing
• U.K.: UK Muslim Honor Killing: Wife & Daughters Burned Alive
• U.K.: UK Muslims Condemn Honour Killings
• U.S.A. (video): Muslim Father Kills Two Daughters in the USA (Texas)
• U.S.A.: Murder in the Family: Honor Killings in America
• USA: Honor Killing in Georgia
  
• U.S.A.: 'Honor' Killing Comes to the US
• YEMEN: FGM and Honor Killings in Yemen
  
• YEMEN: Honor Crime in Yemen

February 14: The Valentine's Day

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A Valentine's Day image

Graphic Design © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

In the western world, the Valentine's Day (also called Saint Valentine's Day) is a long-standing social tradition. Gradually with the spread of western-type of education, foreign travels, education in western countries, and migrant work, this traditional day is also observed in other parts of the world, including Bangladesh.

On this day lovers demonstrate their love for each other by exchanging Valentine's cards, flowers, sweets including chocolates, and other gifts. Lovers also go to dinners and participate in different entertainments. A red-coloured heart, dove and winged Cupid are the symbols used for the love expressed on the Valentine's day. In English, the word "valentine" came to have two meanings: a person singled out as one's sweetheart on the Valentine's Day, and a greeting card exchanged on this day.

Origin of the Valentine's Day

There are several legends regarding the origin of this day.

According to one legend, Valentinus (in English, Valentine) was a priest in the third century Rome. Emperor Claudius II (214 - 270 AD), thinking that unmarried young men would make better soldiers, forbade married men with wives and children to serve in his army. Valentinus saw injustice in this decree and defied the emperor by secretly performing marriages of young soldiers. When the emperor came to know of this, he ordered him to be killed. The Church then declared him a saint. Later the Valentine's Day came to be observed on February 14, the day of his death.

Another legend has it that, in ancient times, for 800 years, Romans observed the celebration of Lupercalia on February 15. This feast day honoured Lupercus, the god of agriculture and shepherds. On this day young women would leave their names in an earthen pot and young men would draw the names and pair with the girls accordingly and be their sexual companions for the year. Pope Gelasius I was not happy about the pagan sexual emphasis of the festival. He wanted to "christianize" the feast day by transferring it to February 14, the day St. Valentine (in Latin, St. Valentinus) died. The day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of young women and a tradition of exchanging handwritten messages of admiration grew out.

Whatever the background of this day, young people enthusiastically observe it with vigour and enthusiasm and express their love for their valentines.

Tell us how you observed the Valentine's Day this year.