LAHORE: At least 40 clerics affiliated with the Sunni Ittehad Council, a conglomerate of Barelvi school of thought groups, have issued a fatwa (religious decree) against honour killing, describing it as un-Islamic and the worst sin.

The fatwa comes in the wake of killing of two girls in Lahore in the past week.

In their collective fatwa issued to the media on Sunday, they said that believing in the honour killing as legitimate is kufr (infidelity). They said burning women alive for marrying of their own freewill was against Islamic injunctions.

The fatwa said Islam gives freewill marriage right to adult women and never enjoins someone honour killing. It said the so-called standards of honour in vogue in society are based on ignorance, waywardness and kufr and only those standards of honour will be acceptable as have been set by Allah Almighty and His Prophet (Peace be upon him).

It said as Islam mandates the rulers to protect rights of women, the government must enact effective legislation to check honour killings and declare it non-compoundable and non-bailable offence.

Referring to 1,100 honour killing incidents in the country in one year, they also urged upon the government, religious and political parties, and media to make joint efforts for curbing this ignorant act.

Those who signed the fatwa included Mufti Haseeb Qadri, Mufti Kareem Khan, Allama Naeem Javed Noori, Mufti Akbar Rizvi, Mufti Ramazan Jami, Hamid Sarfraz Qadri and Maulana Akbar Naqshbandi.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2016