No Compromise on Murder

hamidm

Every society in the world establishes laws on crimes and punishment based on two principles:

1. To establish order in the society by codifying the values of the society
2. To prevent an individual from transgressing a codified value.

Islam as a religion and as a social ideology goes a step further than the two stated objectives of `establishing order` and that of `prevention`; it has a third objective as well when it codifies the societal values that it promotes. Islam demands us to establish a society that is based on the principles of mutual compassion and fear of (indignation) of God. Fear of God means that as individual and as society we are not only accountable to each other but also to a higher authority who is omni-present, who cannot be cheated, and who cannot be swayed away from the justice. The compassion breeds the necessary cohesiveness that binds the social fabric together even if a breach has occurred. In Islam the premium is on human life, whether it is that of victim or it is that of perpetrator. Both lives are valuable. Yet order in society is also valuable. So by promoting a strict code of justice coupled with necessary compassion Islam tries to strike the fine balance. In every culture of the world forgiveness is considered a virtue of the highest order. In case of murder, grievance on part of victim`s family is the greatest. The loss of a family member not only causes acute degree of emotional trauma but sometimes it also causes irreparable damage of financial nature which may further ruin the lives of many more people. As far as financial damage is concerned, it can be compensated either by perpetrator or by the society, but what to do about the emotional trauma? The only elixir that can cure this trauma is an act of kindness or compassion to the person whom you hate the most. Such an acts transcends your spirits to a higher level. From aggrieved party`s point of view, by forgiving, they hand their grief over to Allah who patches up and rewards them in this life and hereafter and on part of aggressor this act puts him right into the vice of Allah`s justice. There is a greater chance that by repenting and by doing the acts of kindness the aggressor in turn becomes a useful member of the society. Islam offers those second chances. One should ask himself, after all what really is the punishment for a person on death row? Is it the pain that he suffers while his neck snaps on the gallows? Is it the gas that chokes the out life out of him? Or is it the electricity that fries him into his own juices. None. The real punishment of a murderer, if you ask them, is the time between his apprehension and to the time when he steps on the gallows. If a man has all the wealth in the world, he would gladly exchange this wealth to avoid this excruciating punishment of waiting. By offering an opportunity to exercise compassion, Islam bestows upon the aggrieved this tremendous, God like, prowess to save a human life. There is nothing nobler than that.

In United States, where the society is most violent in the world, even more violent than the war torn genocidal nations of Africa or elsewhere, these laws are needed more. It is the richest society in the world but the divide between rich and poor is so sharp and mind boggling. The way they treat the most vulnerable members of the society, the unwed single mothers, the children of them, the colored minorities, the dispossessed, the homeless, the down trodden, makes one think what is the use of this looting, plundering and aggression on helpless nations is for, when they cannot have compassion for their own people. One does not have to be a Muslim to be compassionate. Look at the similar culture countries in Europe and even in Canada where public policy is that of compassion. Call it a social democracy or label it, whatever you like but the facts are so obvious. Even after two world wars, centuries of ruthless colonial aggression on other nations and a holocaust the European societies inherently are compassionate societies (internally) because they put premium on human life. Whereas in United States, the cheapest commodity is that of human life and this despite the fact that it is probably the only country in Western world that has death penalty on its laws. Tens of murderers are executed every year and yet hundreds if not thousands sit on death row, sometimes for decades, waiting the excruciating wait hoping that their fate might change and yet every year a new crop of murderers grows up. This is because there is no compassion for a fellow human being and no fear of God.

Ms. Sarwar,

Sad Indeed.

`` no law can bring about changes unless it is implemented, and unless society changes to accept the status of women as equal human beings``

the trouble here is the fact that the society needs to change as a whole. There are laws, bills; solutions to problems and answers to questions, trouble is the implementation of them.
In fact most of those who preach (No i do not mean you Ms. Sarwar- this is for the petty pretentious and the pseudo intellects) would resort to a similarly pathetic and degraded path when confronted by such a situation on a personal level (God Forbid).
and for the society to take a complete U-Turn, it takes more than one can think. Much much mor

urstruly,

...... this is a serious question.......... do you want to impose qisas and diyat in your new home - the united states, or do you think the existing laws are better ?........ just curious

Until such time as we as a people accept the zulm of the zalim in all forums of society, we cannot evove into a society where the rights of poor helpless women are respected. I see collective madness in all spheres our society especially the socalled PMLQ and its Mazari/Legari etc members

hum bolay ga to bolo gay kay bolta hai,
hum kuch nahin bolay ga!

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I would like to retract from the statement made in the last sentence of my previous post where I wrote that ``In this case, a punishment, under Tazir can be imposed which can be life imprisonment and fine but cannot be excution & flogging. The precedence exists.``

As a matter of fact in case of murder state WILL impose the death penalty to the murderer if the Qisas agreement does not go thru. The confusion arises when usually the word Qisas is used in conjunction with the word Diyat. Qisas applies in case of murder whereas Diyat is the monetary compensation or pardon in case of bodily injury short of death. Both Qisas and Diyat where ordained by Almighty to replace the then existing Mosaic Law of `an eye for an eye - a life for a life` etc. Islam has differentiated murder from the bodily injury into the categories of Qisas and Diyat. As I said, in case of murder if Qisas agreement fails then state will impose the death penalty. But in case of bodily harm if a Diyat agreement fails then state cannot impose the `an eye for an eye` punishment. If Diyat agreement fails then state imposes a Tazir punishment (anything that society deems fit for the particular offence) short of an eye for an eye. I regret the error.

Judicially, the application of Qisas & Diyat in case of honor killing is a very interesting case study. Personally, I am against the death penalty in Pakistan in any case, even if it is given to the perpatrator of murder and gang rape of a five year old. But inspite of that I would like to keep the death penalty on the books until Pakistan has a sovereign judicial system. Therefore, I think Qisas and Diyat are the best options to save the human lives. Those who are murdered are gone forever; the judicial killing of the perpetrator cannot bring him/her back, however, a monetary compensation can not only save another human life but may also help the relatives of the victim financially. If finance is not the issue then given the tribal nature of society in Paksitan where revenge killings are all too common a pardon may help control the further tit for tat killing. In my personal opinion the issue that Beena has raised, has been overhyped. Let us take an example. lets say a brother kills his sister for her indiscretion, then the relatives of this girl are other siblings and parents, in case she is not married. Now Beena is saying that if the murderer goes to police and voluntarily confesses that he has murdered his sister, then his siblings and parents will come to the court and say that they forgive the perpatrator. In my opinion in such a situation the problem is not a judicial issue but a procedural issue. For example, the police investigation in the case might reveal that the family members also conspired with perpetrator to commit this murder then the whole lot can be charged with conspiracy to commit murder and case cannot go to the level of Qisas setlement and matter becomes state vs. perpetrator(s) automatically. In this case, a punishment, under Tazir can be imposed which can be life imprisonment and fine but cannot be excution & flogging. The precedence exists.

Could be this is part of a ``Compromise Package`` for a razinama with the Misogynist Maulvi Alliance on the ``vardee`` issue?



Saeen aabaad rakhay

beena:

...no law can bring about changes unless it is implemented, and unless society changes to accept the status of women as equal human beings.

well said!

Speaking for the murder victim ( who knows it could be you tomorrow)!!

This is abominable. This is just another way to reinforce theocracy and the patriarchical social order and thwarting the formation of a liberal Islamic society which respects the human life in itself!!

This is something which no modern state should be tolerating- Compounding murder in this fashion- This makes the feudals more powerful and lecherous!

Rubbish!!

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