USA: teens murdered, father wanted - honor killing?

The idea of this father murdering his daughters is evil enough. Yet Robert Spencer asks some insightful questions about the funeral service ...

Jan 6, 2008. Jihad Watch
Said sisters' great-aunt: "This was an honor killing":

The Dallas Morning News:

Gail Gartrell, the sisters' great-aunt, said Saturday that Mr. Said had physically abused the two girls for years. Around Christmas, the girls' mother – Ms. Gartrell's niece – had fled because of Mr. Said's threats to kill the girls after he learned they had boyfriends, she said.

"She ran with them because she knew he would carry out the threat," Ms. Gartrell said. "This was an honor killing."

She said her niece returned after Mr. Said told her that he would move out so they could reconcile. Within a few days, she said, the girls were dead.

[...]

The short Muslim service was at a gold-domed mosque in Richardson in a cavernous gym, with prayers piped across loudspeakers. The closed caskets were at the far side of the gym, end to end.

Dozens of Muslim men lined up in front of the girls' caskets. About 20 feet behind them were women in hajibs. An imam then led a Muslim prayer.

Dr. Yusuf Kavacki, head of the Richardson mosque, alternating between English and Arabic, told mourners that all living things are destined to die.

Robert Spencer:

A strange topic, no? It suggests, at least from this report, that he was giving the impression that there was a certain inevitability about this, and deemphasizing the violence and tragedy of it. Might it not have been better to stress the sanctity of life and emphasize that such an act has no justification under any circumstances?

Another imam talked about families being the most important thing in Islam and the need for parents to work to keep their families strong.

Another strange topic. Parents must work to keep their families strong. How? By any means necessary? How exactly should Yaser Said have worked to keep his family strong? Does the imam mean that Yaser Said should have worked harder to keep Amina and Sarah on the Islamic straight and narrow, and then he wouldn't have had to resort to killing them? But since they strayed from that straight and narrow, he did what he had to do to keep his family strong? Is there a hint here of justification for the killings?

Maybe not. I invite this unidentified imam to explain what he said and what he meant -- and if I hear from him, I will publish his explanation. I know how reporters can get things wrong, sometimes willfully. But given the widespread justification within Islam for honor killings, I think these are legitimate questions to ask him.

More:

More evidence that the Dallas murders were honor killings
"He was really strict about guy relationships and talking to guys, as well as the things she wears" -- so he killed her