Some 50 religious scholars from the nongovernmental Pakistan Ulema Council have met and issued an edict against so-called "honor killings."
The chairman of the Ulema Council, Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, told RFE/RL on June 6 that "anyone killing a woman in the name of honor is committing three crimes -- defamation of Islam, defamation of the country, and spreading disorder on Earth."
The June 5 edict from the council came in response to the killing of 25-year-old Farzana Parveen by her relatives in front of a Lahore courthouse on May 27.
Parveen, three months' pregnant, was stoned to death for rejecting the arranged suitor her family had chosen and marrying a man she loved.
On June 1, some 30 clerics of the Sunni Ittehad (Unity) Council in Lahore announced that honor killings are prohibited by Islam.
The chairman of the Ulema Council, Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, told RFE/RL on June 6 that "anyone killing a woman in the name of honor is committing three crimes -- defamation of Islam, defamation of the country, and spreading disorder on Earth."
The June 5 edict from the council came in response to the killing of 25-year-old Farzana Parveen by her relatives in front of a Lahore courthouse on May 27.
Parveen, three months' pregnant, was stoned to death for rejecting the arranged suitor her family had chosen and marrying a man she loved.
On June 1, some 30 clerics of the Sunni Ittehad (Unity) Council in Lahore announced that honor killings are prohibited by Islam.
