"Many Muslims are uncomfortable about how Islam has been dragged into this," said Bunglawala

LONDON, October 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Muslims in Britain and around the world dismissed as "tribal thinking" the so-called "honor killings," asserting no excuse should be given for such a brutal tragedy.

The barrage of condemnations came after Abdullah Yones, a 48-year-old Muslim Kurd, stabbed to death his 16-year-old daughter, Heshu, at their home in Acton, west London, over her alleged affair with a Christian Lebanese boyfriend.

Yones, a political refugee who fled Iraq ten years ago, was sentenced to life imprisonment for "his appalling crime," the BBC News Online reported.

"What this guy (Yones) did is a vicious act that has nothing to do with Islamic teaching. It is a tribal thinking that drives some people to do such thing," said Mustafa al-Nassir in an e-mail sent to the BBC.

"If you ask this guy who killed his daughter 'would you do the same to your son if he had committed the same sin?' I am sure he would not do that but will say 'yes, I would do the same.'

"Islam is not a barbaric religion but the work of some Muslims has made Islam seem a barbaric religion to people who don't know the real Islam," the missive added.

Muslim scholars ruled that Islam strictly prohibited murder and killing without legal justification, saying that the so-called "honor killing" was based on ignorance and disregard of morals and laws, which cannot be abolished except by disciplinary punishments.

Mohammad Sarwar Ahmad, Liverpool, said anyone who overlooked this action "should also be put behind bars."

"There is no such thing as honor killing in Islam let alone killing your own daughter. This person should be put behind bars for rest of his life," he added.

"Anyone who condones his action should also be put behind bars. I thought we lived in the 21st century and not in the dark ages."

'Tension'

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) told the BBC News Online that Muslims in Britain could in no way condone Yones's action.

He admitted, in the meanwhile, that there was a "tension" between the values of Islam and life in the U.K. with regard to sexual behavior and relationships.

"Many Muslims would understand Yones being upset by his daughter's apparent rejection of his faith," said Bunglawala. "But they would never condone his actions."

"Many Muslims are uncomfortable about how Islam has been dragged into this, because Islam categorically does not allow people to kill their own daughter," he averred.

Bunglawala said Muslims in Britain worry about whether their children will grow up to be good Muslims "so that tension is always there."

"But most children realize and accept the value system they've been brought up in," he maintained.

Kurdistan Refugees Women's Organization co-coordinator Sawsan Salim said most Kurds also condemned "honor killings."

In a letter to her father, Heshu wrote: "Bye Dad, sorry I was so much trouble. Me and you will probably never understand each other, but I'm sorry I wasn't what you wanted, but there's some things you can't change."