and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

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Feast on This Week’s Dispatch – A Cornucopia of Insights Awaits!

This week’s Unbelief Brief delivers a highly anticipated update on the murder case of Tahir Naseem, one that stirs mixed emotions. We also cover an attempted honor killing in Washington state and a fashion show in Saudi Arabia.

EXMNA Insights reflects on women’s rights in the wake of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, while the Persecution Tracker provides further updates on the unjust murder of Tahir Naseem.

Unbelief Brief

Four years later, justice is still delayed in the murder case of Tahir Naseem, a US citizen who was lured to Pakistan in 2018 under false pretenses to debate “blasphemous” comments he made on Facebook, only to be arrested and serve two years in prison. Tragically, a 17-year-old assailant, aided and abetted by several individuals within the courthouse, shot Mr. Naseem point-blank in the middle of the blasphemy trial, claiming the Prophet Muhammad appeared in a dream and ordered him to do so. While the gunman was handed a life sentence [[link removed]] this week by an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar, his co-conspirators were acquitted despite openly admitting [[link removed]] being involved in the conspiracy to murder Naseem. These acquittals exemplify how Pakistan’s judicial system continues to short-change victims of blasphemy and apostasy accusations by unevenly and arbitrarily applying the law—and kowtows to violent religious extremism that permeates every facet of Pakistani society.

Meanwhile, in the US: two parents in Lacey, Washington are accused of violently attacking their daughter in an attempted “honor killing” [[link removed]]. The parents, Ihsan and Zahraa Ali, had reportedly arranged for their teenage daughter to marry a man in Iraq. Before the daughter could be forced to travel to Iraq for the marriage, she fled her home and was purportedly living in a shelter for her safety. Unfortunately, her parents caught her leaving her high school to board a bus back to the shelter and nearly choked her to death. The girl’s boyfriend managed to intervene and help get her back to safety but not before being assaulted by the parents. The Alis have since been arrested [[link removed]]. The incident is an unfortunate reminder that even in Western countries, the Islamic impulse to control and constrict women’s free behavior can rear its ugly and violent head.

Finally, a fashion show in Saudi Arabia featuring performances from the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Celine Dion has caused backlash among conservative Muslims. Aside from the predictable outrage about scantily-clad women, the major point of contention was the fact that models were performing around a large black cube on the stage, which critics said resembled the Kaaba. Thus, the performance was a “ gross affront to the Islamic faith [[link removed]],” and the hashtag “ We reject the desecration of the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [[link removed]]” trended on social media. While both structures are black cubes, they do not much resemble one another beyond that. The reaction from religious zealots, who see blasphemy in everything, is proof of Islam’s relentless effort to control, oppress and enforce submission to an irrational dogma.

EXMNA Insights

Yesterday, November 25th marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Verse 4:34 [[link removed]] of the Qur'an, which states that men are "in charge of women" and permits hitting women as a disciplinary measure [[link removed]], creates a framework that fosters impunity for violence against women, including honor killings. The verse explicitly elevates men to a position of authority over women, reinforcing a patriarchal structure that infantilizes women and denies them autonomy. This dynamic is rooted in the notion that men are women’s "protectors," a term that serves as a euphemism for control. Such interpretations validate systemic violence, from domestic abuse to honor killings, as mechanisms for preserving male dominance and the social order.

Honor killings, a stark manifestation of gendered violence, occur with alarming frequency in Muslim-majority societies. The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women [[link removed]] are killed annually worldwide in the name of “honor,” though human rights groups suggest this number is likely much higher. [[link removed]] These killings often target women accused of defying prescribed roles, such as choosing their own partners [[link removed]], rejecting forced hijab [[link removed]], or exercising independence [[link removed]] in thought and behavior. These actions are perceived as threats to familial and societal honor, a concept intrinsically tied to the control of women’s bodies and choices.

The Qur’anic prescription of male guardianship [[link removed](Islamic_legal_guardian)#:~:text=Every%20Saudi%20woman%20must%20have,to%20travel%20outside%20the%20country.]institutionalizes the subjugation of women. By framing women as dependents whose moral and social conduct must align with male oversight, the verse legitimizes violence as a corrective tool [[link removed]]. This not only dehumanizes women but perpetuates a system where their agency is sacrificed at the altar of male-determined honor. The linkage between honor and women’s autonomy underscores a gendered hierarchy [[link removed]] in which the freedom of women is inherently destabilizing to the male-dominated order.

Women do not need "protection" that strips them of agency; they need the respect and equality that enable them to define their own lives. True justice requires dismantling the frameworks, religious or cultural, that sanction control and violence under the guise of care. Women deserve the same autonomy and dignity that men are afforded—nothing less.

Persecution Tracker Updates

See a full accounting of the case of Tahir Naseem’s murder, as well as the most recent update detailed above, on our Persecution Tracker here [[link removed]].

Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

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