Islamic Sharia Law in America. Honor Killings, this time in Arizona.

A few months ago FOX News ran a story written by a Rabbi who worked with a Muslim TV executive who later killed and beheaded his wife in an honor killing in Buffalo, New York. The story is long but the opening paragraphs accurately depict the growing problem of Honor Killings in Muslim communities in America. Please click the title link to read the whole story.

Truths and Lies About Honor Killings In America

By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
Published February 08, 2011  FoxNews.com

The conviction of Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan yesterday, a Buffalo TV executive who beheaded his wife, Aasiya Zubair, brings some measure of closure to a horrible story which continues to haunt me.

For several years, we worked together on a show which I created and hosted at Bridges TV, a cable station the couple built to “bridge the gap between Islam and the West.” Having started out to accomplish that important goal, and in light of the friendship I had with Aasiya in particular, the events in Buffalo have been especially painful.

The importance of this case however, is not a function of personal relationship; it lies in the necessity to address a real and growing problem. Tragically, this is not the only such trial going in the U.S. In addition to the Erie County, N.Y. case, there is also the trial of Faleh Hassan Almaleki, accused of murdering his daughter for becoming what he described as “too westernized” begins on Monday in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Honor killing is a real and horrendous reality. According to United Nations studies, 5,000 women are murdered each year in the name of protecting the honor of their family and their faith.

While honor killing is usually linked to the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, it is very much an issue here in the United States. Sadly, and often dangerously, those who claim to address this problem often get it so very wrong.

The Muslim community needs to find the courage to seriously address the inevitable questions about the role of religion in these crimes, the extent to which Islam was a factor, the connection between domestic violence and traditional religious cultures, etc. Without raising such questions, more women, some of whose deaths could be prevented, are sure to die. And even if some of the people who really do raise these kinds of questions do not come from a place of earnest commitment to human rights and justice, it is not enough to cry “Islamaphobe” when such questions are raised.

The problem with the religious/cultural concept of "honor killing" stems from practices in Islam where many family situations of little consequence to non-Muslim households bear horrible forms of retribution solely in the name of preserving "family honor" within the Muslim community. The lack of cultural integration among many Muslims give them cause to consider any form of Westernization, such as using a cell phone, wearing modern fashions or dating a boy in school, is considered a dishonor. Some of these problems come directly from teachings in the Qur'an, such as a family member who leaves Islam, becomes an Apostate and converts to another religion. The Qur'an specifically calls for that family member to be killed. The most recent case that I followed was the story about the young girl named Rifqa Bary from Columbus, Ohio who left her home after she became a Christian and her Muslim father threatened to kill her. Further complicating the issue is the fact that Islamic teachings tell Muslims they are obligated to ignore the laws of secular governments because those laws were created by men and are an affront to Islam and only the Sharia Laws, which they believe come from Allah, should be obeyed.

Here is the followup to the honor killing in Arizona from MyFoxPhoenix.com

Almaleki Receives 34-Year Sentence for Murder, Aggravated Assault

Updated: Friday, 15 Apr 2011, 10:39 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 15 Apr 2011, 4:19 PM MDT

PHOENIX - An Iraqi immigrant has been sentenced to 34 1/2 years in an Arizona prison for running over his daughter because she became too Westernized.

Faleh Hassan Almaleki was convicted of second-degree murder in the October 2009 death of his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Almaleki.

A jury also found the 50-year-old guilty of aggravated assault for running over the mother of Noor's boyfriend and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge told Almaleki that forgiveness is the core of all religion and was struck by his lack of remorse for the killing.

Lastly, a most illustrative video of a speech given by Jamie Glazov that I found on Jihad Watch on the subject of honor killing and Western indifference. Jihad Watch applauds this as "A powerful speech by Jamie Glazov of FrontPage magazine on the double victimization of Muslim women in the West."

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Compounding this problem is the politically correct whitewash given the subject by the leftist mainstream news media where all religious labels are removed from any story about the criminal behavior of Muslims involved in honor killings or terrorist plots and the fact that most incidents are labeled by police reports under the heading of family abuse make these crimes statistically impossible to track.