Author: Ayse Özgün
Publication: Turkish Daily News
Date: July 16, 2006
URL: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=48977
All we know about her is that her name is
Malak Ghorbany. She was born in the city of Nagadeh in eastern Iran. She was
married. She committed adultery. She is presently serving time in Iran's Urmia
Prison. According to the Sharia law in effect in Iran, she will be stoned
to death after being buried in the ground up to her breasts.
What a beastly and cowardly act! Why beastly?
Because that is as inhumane of an act as possible, that's why. Perhaps the
followers of Sharia law should consider the reasons why a burial in the ground
followed by stoning was a practice in times when electricity was not even
discovered and emotions of revenge were running high. Perhaps they should
begin "thinking," as our Koran's first chapter suggests, as a true
Muslim, to use the brain Allah has placed in our skulls, which differentiates
us from birds, bees, bears, bison and camel. Why cowardly? Because Ghorbany's
husband is getting the "mother of all revenges," i.e., the finality
of death -- with the help, support and power of the government -- instead
of getting some psychological support to get over a hard-to-accept act. As
it says in the Koran, only Allah can take away life he has given.
I could not believe my eyes when I read that
the Sharia law practiced in Iran went so far as to specify the size and shape
of stones worth using in this crime against humanity. That is right. If you
are an Iranian out to stone a woman to death some morning, you could not pick
up and throw just any old stone. It has to be a particular shape and size.
It seems Iranian Law Number 102 is very specific about this subject. I wonder
where the writers of this law found this in the Koran. Or probably this specification
is the result of many such practices where stones used were too small and
did not kill.
The law, it seems, is also specific about
the amount of earth that should be used to bury a woman in the ground. It
seems you have to bury her "up to her breasts" and not more. I wonder
why. Can any of you readers guess? As for a man who has committed adultery,
the burying level is up to his waist. That also makes one wonder.
I wish I could have a chance to talk to Malak
Ghorbany before she is executed. I wish I could hear her side of the story.
How come we do not know whether the man who
"committed adultery" with her is also in prison and waiting for
execution? We know she couldn't be capable of committing adultery by herself.
Is the government taking sides on the issue and leaving the man alone while
condemning poor Malak to death by stoning?
No doubt Malak has children. No doubt she
has not led an easygoing and comfortable life. We don't even know if her husband
used violence at home. But shouldn't there be family consulting services in
all parts of Iran (and all developing nations for that matter) where wives
and husbands can seek advice to get out of their quickly snowballing traumatic
feelings? Crimes of passion are committed in developed nations as well but
nowhere does an article exist where punishment by death is the sentence.
I urge lawmakers in Iran to please reconsider
their system of stoning to death a person who has committed adultery. It is
clear that harsh sentences and their implementation do not halt re-occurrence.
Note:
At long last I am off to our village for a
breath of fresh air and to reunite with nature. Unless there is some very
important issue that I want to comment on, I will be away from this corner
for at least a month. I thank all my readers for the letters and messages
they have sent me. Please take care.
The world should do all it can to stop the
Iranian authorities from executing Malak Ghorbany.
