In Memoriam
We welcome you to share your messages, tributes and thoughts in respect and remembrance of the known and unknown victims of ‘honour’ killings.
Please keep in mind this is not a political forum or discussion board but rather a place of respect, remembrance and tribute to the ones who have lost their lives.
MEMINI | Remembering Victims of Honour Killings Worldwide.
Poem written about Memini by a wonderfully talented poet.
QUESTIONS..
Beloved,
What must she have been thinking,
Seeing the Satan in his eyes,
Seeing the glint of light in his knife,
Smelling the evil in his breath,
Smelling death..
Might she have remembered you Lord,
In her final final shivers,
In her final final thoughts,
In he final final pleas…
In her final final final breath..
She is yours Lord,
As is I,
As is he.
As is all and everything..
As is time,
If you had allowed it ,
As is thoughts
If you had changed it,
As is chance
If you had given it.
I can ask you why,
Why did it happen,
How, When, Who, Where,
If, But, Maybe, No, Yes..
But all that matters is Why.
I can ask you.
But will you tell me?
Will you tell her?
Will you tell us?
Us the women, half of humankind,
If we ask you why you killed us this way..
What will you say Oh Beloved
What will you say…
—————————————
Stones for Aisha
I felt your anger … the betrayal,
when you told your mother
you were raped,
and you thought that she would hold you,
cry out for revenge …
I know that she pushed you away,
considering your value gone.
No dowry for a female
who had been touched by others
in all the wrong places.
I sensed your bewilderment
when she told your father
and he struck you
for ruining his good name
and his chances for respect.
I know he accused you
of letting your veil slip
or letting your ankle show
inciting a man’s uncontrollable urges,
three men..with uncontrollable urges.
I felt your pain
as the first stone struck your face,
marring the beauty of youth
and the second stone
bruising your tender young breast.
I felt your brokenness
as a crowd of one thousand
looked on and cheered
so that their faith would be validated
through your blood in the dirt.
I felt your relief
as your last breath was knocked out of you
no longer bringing entertainment
to people who know nothing but shame
and have forgotten their own beauty.
I feel your tears
as other nations look on with arrogance
claiming to be above it all, somehow,
that their gods are above it all, somehow,
as they go home and beat their women
and their women hide the bruises.
.:.
by Anne Wilkerson Allen
Here are some hauntingly beautiful and fitting song lyrics that we dedicate to these young women.
If You Could Read My Mind, ©1969 by Gordon Lightfoot
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.
If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.
Then you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,
And you won’t read that book again
Because the ending’s just too hard to take!
I’d walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two:
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me.
But for now, love, let’s be real;
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feeling’s gone
And I just can’t get it back.
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
With chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,
And if you read between the lines,
You’d know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
The feelin’s that you lack.
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feelin’s gone
And I just can’t get it back!
This whole website is a wakeup call to families that repress their daughters.
If this website gains the following, popularity and support it deserves, it can
change a way of thought that has dominated too many cultures for too long.
By honouring the killed and telling their stories, you can hopefully bring shame on the killers.
Hello Sophia, you see this too positive. You can not wake up someone, and the killers will never be able to feel shame.
Oh how wrong you are! World wide shameful exposure and pressure has been used to alter or change many injustices in this world. What’s the alternative, say nothing, do nothing, and continue to let innocent women be murdered? I hope something as wicked and tragic as this never happens to anyone in your family. You might have a different opinion if it did.
There is no honour in honour killing, but the shame is on
all humanity, for tolerating this barbaric behaviour.
As I read the stories on this site it leaves me feeling numb and in a state of incredible shock. It is inconceivable to think somebody would bury another person alive.. let alone their own daughter.
I almost feel disgraced, belonging to a race that is capable of such behaviour. My heart, my love and my prayers have been sent tonight to anybody who has gone this way. This has to stop 🙁
In every One hour Honour Killing take place…
Few are registered in police and Many Many others are not.
hi every one i will be so glade to share with you in memoriam Memini.
“We are your Children, your Partners, your Relatives – we are not your Honor” [to all those Family Members which think the Opposite, and go for Murders]
I scroll slowly through the images and see so much energy and potential in all these young faces, some already showing the torment as the photos were made, some smiling through it, like brave Saadia. “Remembrance” must remain and grow, offering some pathway for a few of us in the world to stop and look, read, feel, and give one moment more, so that none of these brave souls passed in vain.
Honor killing ? Or the killing of honor ? My blood boils as I wonder what kind of beasts could witness, tolerate and kill these couples but could not tolerate their love for each other ! if loving someone truly is a shameful act then what could this barbaric, ghastly and loathsome act be called ? I want to volunteer for Memini and I send my love, and prayers to the victims who must be together in heaven !
Although I’ve been aware of honour killings taking place in modern society for some time, I wasn’t aware of its prevalence or details of the ways it is carried out until after I saw the film The Stoning of Soraya M, based on the book by Freidoune Sahebjam. I did some research on the Internet which led me to the Violence Is Not Our Culture and several other sites, and eventually to this site, a wonderful tribute to these women whose lives have been taken and wasted in the most tragic of circumstances, most often by members of their own families. This research has given me the opportunity to think carefully about what honour should mean in our lives. Ironically, it has found a comforting home here as these women are honoured as they should be: for having the courage to be themselves despite the tragic price paid. May Soraya M be remembered with them.
Words fail us. This waste of lives is criminal and must be stopped. We wish all women, robbed of their lives for ‘honour’ and ‘status’, more peace now than they ever had when they were on this earth with us.
We remember, and we honour your pursuit for independence and your rights.
I think Killer’s should be given Capital Punishment in the public….
They should get what they did….
If Parents are against their childrens than they should leave them alone, But why killing is required?
There is No honour in Killing.
In memory of Dua Khalil Aswad, the young 17 year old stoned to death by over 1000 cowards for falling in love with someone outside her faith – to them I say “I hope a day does not go by that you do not hear her screams or see her blood on your hands!”
Honoring The Woman, by Khaled Hishma
* How we treat the woman reflects how much human we are.
*Honoring the woman means understanding our humanity and realizing our entity as human beings.
*By honoring the woman we honor ourselves, we appreciate our existence, and we discover our values.
*For many centuries we have lost our identity because we have not been honoring the woman. Rather we maliciously dishonored her.
*We forged a human society which is not human or humane by way of not honoring the woman, and inverted a fallacy of our being.
*Instead of honoring the woman, we committed the crimes of dehumanizing, chaining, marginalizing, and degrading her.
*Honoring the woman is giving birth to us, renewing our civilization, and recreating our human identity.
*To honor the woman is to honor who we are, to respect our humanity, and to value our being.
*Honoring the woman is the assertion to oneself that the woman is equal, and has the right to be free of fear, and free of want.
*Admitting our failure as a human society is the necessary step to honoring the woman, in order to correct our wrongs against the woman.
*By honoring the woman, you re-examine yourself, your mind, your culture, and your inner being, and affirm your compassion and mercy.
*To honor the woman is to end injustices committed against her throughout our human existence.
*Women abuse in all societies shows that all present world religions with no exception, are distorted and twisted.
*Women mistreatment is nothing but a clear representation to how low male dominated mentality has become in human society.
*One mind can influence history and impact humanity. Think how many women were deprived of such honor?
*Great minds have contributed to the advancement of human knowledge. So, imagine how much knowledge had been lost by marginalizing women throughout history?
Killing in the Name of Honor, By Khaled Hishma:
*There is no honor in killing a female,but there is honor in persecuting those unhonorables who commit such a crime.
*What they call ‘Honor Killing’ is nothing but a new form and a new term for burying females alive in this age of ignorance.
*There is no SIN greater than killing a female in the name of honor…Even God did not permitted.
*To call it ‘Honor Killing’ is not honorable… It is inhumane and should be termed ‘Despotic Killing’.
*There is no honor in killing a woman…There is honor only in appreciating,believing in,understanding,loving, and caring for a woman.
*New standards and criteria should be enforced by the United Nations and the world community,in which each nation is evaluated based on the human security of its females.
*Killing females in the name of honor expresses a despotic society dominated by arbitrary culture.
*It is too aggravating to keep silent about the crimes committed against females in the name of honor.
*All those who will not take a stand against killing females in the name of honor, are themselves accessories to murder.
https://twitter.com/khaledhishma
The shovel bought the innards of the soil up
Up to the surface to bathe in the sun’s light
They dug the hole deep, so no hope
No hope to climb or claw could be found
They wrapped her broken body in the black cloth
And threw her into the darkness below
Her eyes flickered as she tried to move her beaten body
The body of a sinner, the body of a woman
Born guilty, guilty of the urge to love
At only eighteen she had dared to love a man
The source of her downfall
At the age of eighteen she fell in love with the man
Who would deal her final blow
She took away her veil for him to see the smile
He brought upon her virtuous lips
She let him bring her to his bed where
He gently pulled the virginity from betwixt her legs
There was no jury that day, but the death sentence was cast
He was only twenty, the day he threw the largest stone
At the girl he used to love, before she became a black mark
A secret, spiteful word whispered around the village
They said she was being punished in the name of honour
But there was no honour in this killing
Enveloped in darkness as a sack was pulled over her head
Bound by the rough fingers of rope around her wrist
And her body buried in the sand and dirt below
So that the only target were her women’s breasts
And her eighteen year old face
Without looking into her eyes they cast the stones
Without hearing the plea, that had no time to escape her lips
They beat the love out of her, their daughter, sister and cousin
Her woman’s curse died with her that day
As they shovelled the unravelled dirt upon her
And cast her off into the shadow of death
Where she was greeted in light, the sin of being a woman
Not enough to keep her from paradise
‘Honour killing’ is such a shame..Deeyah, a heart-touching effort from you to keep those courageous women remembered. I will share this site, and do my least. Hope this killing is completely stopped for ever !
Thank you for this site and helping to shed light on this darkness. People who do these things must be prosecuted and shamed publicly.
Was encouraged to see the recent Canadian case in which the father, mother and brother were convicted and imprisoned. Sad but necessary if this madness is ever to end.
Want to share a link from a lady in India who recently commented on my blog post titled, “The Global War on Girls.” She too is engaged in making public these terrible crimes.
http://www.savedaughters19.wordpress.com
Up with women!
It seems to me that any person who thinks to kill a family member for any reason has got to be devoid of any god or religion or understanding of justice and law. These jerks are not men they are the gutless gang members who have no balls who’s only response to opposition is murder. These are the same guys who cut off womens clitoris so they cant have a orgasm because they are not men enough to be able to bring a woman to orgasm. These so called men ejaculate prematurely and rarely can even concieve. Simply put they are all jerkoffs unable to even be with a woman let alone love or make love to a woman. If these assholes cant even love their own women, they surely can not love any god. Who do they think they are fooling ?
“And when the good news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) a female (child) his face remains darkened,and he is filled with grieve, distress,and anger!… He hides himself with shame from his people, because of (what he considers)the ill news brought to him! Shall he retains it (the female child) on disgrace and shame, or bury it in the earth soil? Verily, what an evil (choice) they recourse to”. Qur’an 16:58-59
“And when the female (child) who was buried alive is questioned… For which sin/guilt she was slayed/murdered (infanticide d)”. Qur’an 81:8-9
‘A’isha said, “Some of the Bedouins came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, ‘Do you really kiss your children?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ They said, ‘But, by Allah, we do not!’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There is nothing I can do if Allah has removed mercy from your hearts!'”
In Islam it is forbidden to kill any human being. To slaughter your own children is an unimaginable crime and it is clearly stated not to severe ties of the womb (brothers, sisters, parents). The people who murdered Banaz Mahmod are culturally motivated and have no mercy left in their hearts. I hope and pray people are guided away from evil customs and thinking and awaken to the truth that we are all together and religion teaches us to unite, not separate.
Honour killings must be stopped.
Banaz,
You didn’t deserve what you got, its not a crime to fall in love. Your family should have supported you not killed you! Its disgusting and sickening! You are a beautiful woman and had a loving boyfriend!Rest in peace, all my wishes and love are with you xoxox
I’ve just watched in horror the documentary about what happened to you beautiful Banaz! I cried so much for all the pain you suffered. You were let down by so many people but also loved by your lovely brave sister, Bekhal and your loving boyfriend Rahmat. You too were so brave my love and i pray that any other child or woman who also watched this, sees and hears your courage, and also comes forward for help, ‘help’ that now should be in place, because of your bravery and ‘help’ that you deserved so so much but didn’t have.
I will pray also that your sister and boyfriend stay safe and one day can live with the freedom that they so deserve!!
RIP Banaz xxxxxx
Hold your child close as if she were a precious gem…The only real precious gem you will ever have the honour to hold…If only for a short while.
I don’t know where to start, it broke my heart watching Banaz: An Honour Killing. She was such a beautiful young girl, and living her life the way she wanted, and with a man she finally found love with. She did no wrong to anyone in her young life.
No one deserves to be treated badly in any way. So to be killed by her own family, the ones who are supposed to love and protect you, yet instead they took her precious life away so cruelly, and in the most horrific way words fail me right now.
Banaz must have been so frightened knowing she was about to be killed, and their was nothing she could do to escape these evil individuals or her fate. These individuals then try to cover up Banaz killing to protect themselves. I find it absolutely disgusting, people like that do not deserve to be parents. Let alone allowed near any child.
I have followed Banaz case since she first appeared on the news. Now having watched the documentary in full, and hearing the full details of how this beautiful young woman was killed, it broke my heart in so many pieces. Just seeing what that poor beautiful girl Banaz was put through, it upset me more than I have ever felt before in my life. Even now writing this I am overcome with emotion.
They need to bring back capital punishment in this country, every other country has punishments for crimes why not this one? It is because there are no punishments that these evil people think they can carry out these horrific honour killings, because they think they will get away with it.
We all need to make a stand and change the law, so that no one else has to suffer like poor beautiful Banaz did, at the hands of such evil individuals. Banaz is just one woman to have been killed in these honour killings, and too many other women have been killed since in the same horrific ways. The law needs to change and fast so this can’t be allowed to happen again.
I hope your beautiful soul is finally at peace now, and your finally out of pain Banaz. You was a beautiful young woman who had everything to live for, and it was cruelly taken away from you. I hope you are finally at peace. R.I.P darling you may be gone but you will never be forgotten xxxxxx