Shame or Guilt; Which Concept Guides Us?
©Gary Sweeten

Not long ago I read an article by Bob Blincoe about Islam's concept of honor and shame. It is a simple but powerful insight into the clash of civilizations and the war on terror.

Legal concepts based on guilt and punishment or redemption through forgiveness is the basis of Jewish and Christian cultures. America is a nation that has been founded on scripture and its traditional understanding by Jews and Christians. Justice and Guilt that require forgiveness and repentance is not the basis of Islamic law and culture.

Islamic culture operates on Shame and Honor; defilement and cleansing. As David Pryce-Jones says in The Closed Circle:

Honor is what makes life worthwhile; shame a living death, not to be endured, requiring that it be avenged. What otherwise seems self-destructive in Arab society is explained by the anxiety to be honored and respected at all costs, and by whatever means (p. 35).

The word sharif (honor) is a common name for males throughout the Muslim world. The word for shame ayb is a dirty garment to be cast off by every effort.

To remain in shame is worse than death. Only when we understand this fact will we begin to see why some Muslims hate us.

Recently a Muslim man killed his teenage daughter because she had been raped. This is completely unthinkable to westerners steeped in Christian ideas. However, in Islam, honor killing is common and accepted.

Women must acquire and maintain honor for the whole family; otherwise, they bring disgrace, which only their deaths may erase. In some cultures a shamed person will kill himself. In some Muslim societies, one who is disgraced must kill the shamed one. Thus, fathers kill daughters who were raped because the family was defiled. She is not punished due to her guilt but removed because she is unclean and heuncleannessss has defiled the entire family.

Osama bin Laden and radical fundamentalist Muslims are attacking us as "Honor Killings".

This is the only way their honor can be restored. By the way. Do you know why September 11 was chosen as the date to kill Americans? Think about it.

More tomorrow.

gsweeten@lifewaycenters.com
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