Honor Violence Inflicted on Teenage Girl in Texas

Sittarh Mazhar Khan, a 36-year-old old resident of Kingwood, Texas, is presently facing felony charges for beating, choking, & burning her teenage daughter for not wearing her hijab and over-cooking a meal.  Ms. Khan reportedly became upset when she observed that her daughter was not wearing her hijab in some of her social media posts.  Ms. Khan became even more upset when her daughter burned some pita bread and as punishment she forced her daughters arm onto the hot oven rack, leading her to suffer multiple burns on her arm.  Ms. Khan was arrested and later set free on a $20,000 bond while her daughter was taken by child protective services.  Recently, Ms. Khan chose to plead guilty to the abuse and was let off lightly with a three year deferred adjudication, 100 hours of community service, a $100 dollar fine, prohibition to use drugs & alcohol, & must attend anger management programs.  

Not only is this a light sentence, it's a foolish one because drugs and alcohol are the the issues behind this sort of abuse.  The reality is that this sort of abuse is derived from Islamic texts and teachings, but the sentence makes does not address this reality at all.  The reality is that this abuse happens because Surah 4:34 of the Qur'an as well as numerous Hadith such as Sahih Muslim 2127 permits met to beat women if they're disobedient.  These teachings motivate the honor-violence that Islamic families inflict on women in their families who defy Sharia.  Such violence includes beatings, burnings, even murder.  

It is because of these teachings that many sharia-adherent Islamic families who migrated to Western nations become enraged when the see their children begin adopting Western lifestyles and often resort to violence when their children, particular girls, seek to escape their abusive Islamic upbringing.  Unfortunately, Western societies are refusing to comprehend this reality.  In Dec. of 2007 17-year-old Aqsa Parvez, the daughter of Pakistani migrants in Canada, was murdered by her father and brother for refusing to wear a hijab.  However, all too often, Western authorities often refuse to reveal that Islamic based teachings inspire acts of violence like this, and in some cases, refuse to take action when victims of such abuse come to them for help out of fear of being labeled "culturally  insensitive."  

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This was the case for Yasmine Mohammad.  The daughter of Egyptian immigrants living in Canada, Yasmine suffered physical and mental abuse from her mother and stepfather for trying to resist submission to Sharia Law.  When Yasmine when to the authorities for help, the charges against her parents were dropped as the judge deemed the abuse to be a "cultural practice" and not a violation of Canadian Law.  

We in the West cannot keep turning a blind eye to this reality.  This sort of abuse is happening all too often and so many in our society have become so blinded by "cultural relativism" that we simply dismiss it as "cultural practices" or "Family Abuse" and refuse to confront the ideological factors that drive this sort of abuse.  Yasmine Mohammad escaped the abuse only because her husband, whom she was forced to marry against her will, was arrested and imprisoned by Canadian authorities for being an al-Qaeda operative.  Despite this, Yasmine was still more fortunate then Aqsa Parvez.  If we don't start accepting the reality of this abuse, more girls like Ms. Khan's daughter will continue to suffer abuse, and some may not survive it.  

Sources:

Mek, Amy.  "Texas: Muslim Mother Who Beat, Choked, & Burned Teen Daughter for Not Wearing Hijab Pleads Guilty."  RAIR Foundation USA.  April 18, 2024.  Accessed from https://rairfoundation.com/texas-muslim-mother-who-beat-choked-burned-teen/.

Mohammed, Yasmine.  Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam.  Identifiers: Canadiana, 2019.  

Newberry, Bryce.  "Kingwood Teen Allegedly Beat, Choked by Own Mother for Not Wearing Hijab in Social Media Posts.  Click 2 Houston.  Oct. 04, 2023.  Accessed from https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/10/05/kingwood-teen-allegedly-beat-choked-by-own-mother-for-not-wearing-hijab-in-social-media-post/.