Sidahmed states that “Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse” ( p. 187). Adultery is seen as discriminatory in Afghanistan. In America, people who commit adultery are not punished. Their spouse may choose to divorce them or simply forgive them and continue the marriage. There is no penalty for adultery in America. This does not mean that Americans see adultery as acceptable, but adultery is more common in the US than in Afghanistan because the consequences are not nearly as serious in the US. In the Christian bible, there is written evidence that adultery is wrong. It is written in the Ten Commandments “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Jews and Christians take this very seriously.
In The Kite Runner adultery is depicted to be a very serious and punishable matter. The Koran also says that adultery is wrong; they see adultery worse than murder. In the novel, Amir and Farid go to the Ghazi Stadium to find the official who bought Sorab. While they are there, they witness a woman being stoned to death during half time for committing adultery. The man she cheated with was also stoned to death by the Taliban official, Assef (p. 267-269). In Afghanistan, this is their way of punishing people who commit adultery, and they do not believe it to be un-just in any way. According to Sidahmed “Stoning is used in the form of community justice and also as a judicial form of capital punishment” (p. 195). There are rules before a person may be stoned by Islamic people. Four eye witnesses or accusers must have seen that they saw the couple interact. According to the Islamic government, the right thing to do is to not tell anyone, and simply repent to Allah (the Islamic God) instead.
In America, we would see “stoning” as very unjust and illegal. If someone were to stone another person because they committed adultery, he or she would go to jail for murder – and the person who committed adultery would walk free. Even though adultery may not be a criminal offense in America, there still may be some consequences. For example, if a couple go to court in America for adultery, it may affect who receives custody of the children, property settlement, etc. Many people do see it has a terrible thing, but we live in a free country where we are not punished for things such as adultery. The woman and man being stoned is an example of how people in Afghanistan do not have much freedom. They must always obey society’s rules or they will receive the death sentence.
The New York Times claims that “The State house of representatives had attempted to pass a bill that makes adultery a crime punishable by a year in jail” (“Adultery Penalty May Change”). This bill was not passed in America because people said the law was unenforceable.
Works Cited
Sidahmed, Abdel Salam. "Adultery (Islamic Law)". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Nov. 2001: 187-204.
"Adultery Penalty May Change". New York Times 2-18-1989: 54.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York City: Riverhead Books, 2003.
By: Jena Warzecha