Islamic law forbids Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men; the Qur’an says: “And chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you, when you have given them their due compensation, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse or taking lovers.” (5:5) This is generally understood among Islamic scholars to mean that Muslim men may marry chaste Muslim women and chaste women from the People of the Book (Jews and Christians; Islamic law forbids Muslim men from marrying Zoroastrian women). But because “chaste men from among those who were given the Scripture before you” are not mentioned, it is generally understood by Islamic scholars that marriages between Muslim women and Jewish or Christian men are forbidden, and all the schools of Islamic law forbid them.

Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but “the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour ‘provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.’” And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values.”

Until the encouragement Islamic law gives to honor killing is acknowledged and confronted, more women will suffer.

“Wife Testifies Against Jordanian Man on Trial for 2 Slayings,” NBCDFW, July 20, 2018 (thanks to the Geller Report):