Murder cases: Tackling the issue the Islamic way

By Muhammad Basir Roslan

On average, as reported by KOSMO! Online, there are more than one murder case that occurred every day in Malaysia and more than 500 cases in a year. Do you feel shocked by this statistic? That is what had been reported in Malaysia only, but how about in the rest part of the world?
Let us see some of the murder cases that had been reported which are derived from local newspaper website.

As reported by hmetro.my on 4 November 2016,  two Myanmar men aged around 20s were arrested as they had been suspected to be involved in the killing of four of their citizens of which bodies were found in the bush, in a raid in Kuala Lumpur.

From the results of the police investigation, two of them confessed to being involved in murder and one of them bought a knife at a store. Both of them were remanded for a week following the deaths of four male citizens whose bodies were found in the bushes a week before. Their bodies were found in Kampung Tanjung Hilir, Bekelam, Bachok at 6.35 pm. Initial investigations revealed that the motive is a revenge.

Other murder case reported at Johor Baharu by themalaymailonline.com on 2 July 2016, where a couple was arrested early on the morning at the Garden Indahpura, Kulai, after being suspected of involving in the kidnapping and murder of an engineer on June 26.

Both suspects were arrested for investigations when an engineer in a company’s oil exploration in Singapore was reported missing at his home in Taman Dato’ Chellam. The motive for the kidnapping and murder is revenge and jealousy.

These are just some other murder cases reported in the mainstream media and social medias that happened in Malaysia and this is the reality we are facing right now. Murder cases happened throughout the world and it is crazy to think that why people kill each other.

We are now living in critical anxiety and fear of our surrounding because there are so many crimes happening. This do not include kidnapping, bullying, robbing and many other crime cases until sometimes it makes us even feeling unsafe inside in our own houses.

And the question that should run in our minds now is œWhy do people kill? Why do they commit murder like there are not rules; and are they did not fear of punishment?

To unravel these questions, as explained by Dr. Paul G. Mattiuzzi, a California licensed psychologist, and forensic consultant that there are some criteria of motivations that drive a person to commit murder or more daunting commit mass killing. To be precise, Dr. Paul had been conducting several interviews with many killers for his psychological research and what he found may surprise us. According to him, there are at least eight criteria of murderers and what cause them to commit this murder crime are stated below:

1)      Chronically Aggressive Individuals

• Easily frustrated, limited or poor impulse control
• Frequently express anger or hostility
• May express hostility through œpassive-aggressive behaviour
• Believes violence and/or aggression are legitimate responses to various interpersonal problems in life, in example if someone provokes you, you fight back
• Although they might never admit it, pleasure or reinforcement is derived from the expression of anger, as for example, it feels good to blow someone off because it makes you feel alive and it gives you a sense of power
• Most typically, violence occurs in a situational context such as by an offence, fight, or disagreement
• Sometimes they just get carried away by a particular situation like domestic violence, child battering.

2)      The Over-Controlled Hostility Type

• Rarely display or express anger – they dont cuss or yell
• Emotionally rigid and inflexible: appear to be polite, serious, and sober
• Morally righteous and upstanding: see themselves as œgood people
• Often judgmental: see others as œnot such good people
• Non-assertive or passive; their passivity causes others to take advantage of them
• Anger builds up like in a pressure cooker before they explode
• After the violence, people say that they never expected it, œhe always seemed like such a nice guy; he was always so quiet

3)      The Hurt and Resentful

• Feel that people walk on them and that they are never treated fairly
• Things are easier for everyone else: other people get more and have more advantages.
• They do not accept criticism well
• They are often whiners and complainers, as a matter of attitude
• Violence occurs because they hold grudges and are œimpotent to deal with their anger in other ways

4)      The Traumatised

• Aggression occurs in response to a single, massive assault on their identity
• The essence of their existence (or their manhood) will be destroyed if they do not respond
• Violence is predictable & preventable

5)      The Obsessive

• Immature and narcissistic individuals who demand or crave attention and affection
• Absolutely cannot stand to be deprived of desired gratifications, like a baby who cries because mother removes the breast
• When deprived of love, they continue crying: repeated phone calls or following the object of their obsession
• They have been thinking like these, œif I cant have her, nobody can. … or: œif she wont have me, she wont have anything.

6)      The Paranoid

• Jealous Type: Delusionally believes that their lover is unfaithful
• Persecuted Type: Delusionally believes that people are out to get him
• Typically engage in behaviours which make their paranoid beliefs come true
• Delusions may reach the point at which the person is grossly out of contact with reality and they may be insane.

7)      The Insane

• They do not understand the nature and quality of their actions.
• Fundamental misperceptions of reality, incapable of rational behaviour, delusional beliefs deprive them of the ability to know that their behaviour is wrong, beliefs and perceptions are incongruent with reality.
• Twisted, psychotic beliefs about what is right, what is wrong, and what is necessary.

 

8)      The Just Plain Bad & Angry

• A combination of most of the above (except for insane): angry, hostile, jealous, resentful, impotent, and disturbed individuals, who are socially isolated, socially inadequate, and who feel worthless
• Maybe they are seeking attention
• Maybe they are seeking revenge

All of the points stated above are just derived from a study conducted by him as a psychologist that try his best to understand why people can be such a violent person until vainly to commit murdering others. To be brief, some of the prominent reasons of why a person commit murder are because of jealous, angry or simply because of stress with their life.

In Islam, we have been governed by Allah in every perspective including how to deal with an internal problem such as angry and jealousy and that is why Allah revealed Quran and Sunnah to be our guidance. There are some tips how to manage our stress, jealous or anger according to Islamic teaching:

1)      Be content with what you have

Most of us are not satisfied with what we have. You might be stressed about not getting that promotion, or unsatisfied with your job/salary, or tensed with your children. Remember that there are people dealing with harder situations that yourself; some are homeless, jobless, or without children. In worldly matters, look to those below us to be humbled (looking above us will trigger jealousy and ungratefulness), while in religious matters look to those above us to get inspired to reach a higher level of taqwa.

We must always be thankful for what Allah granted us. We might think that what we want is better for us but He knows what is truly best for us. Allah might be giving us what we need or He may be testing our iman so that we may call upon Him and increase in piety.

Stress cannot solve our problems, but it only causes more problems, especially to our health and social life. So, be happy with what we have, be patient, try to do your best and ask Allah for guidance. Allah said: œSo remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me. (2:152).

2)      Enjoy the company of family and friends

The lonelier we are, the more we will attract to negative feelings. So we need to keep in touch with our family members and close friends to feel better and spread some love. A study from the University of Michigan found that chatting released hormones involved in bonding, which in turn reduced anxiety and stress, thus making the participants happier.

So to reduce stress, enjoy some time with our family and friends by doing any kinds of activity, for example, go for a picnic, a bike ride or just chat. Not only will it help reduce our stress levels but also help to build strong bonds between each other.

3)      Quranic recitation  in reducing the stress and anger

Allah said in Holy Quran, œO mankind! There has come to you a direction from you Lord, and a healing for (the disease in your) heart, and for those who believe a guidance, and mercy. (10:57).

The echo of sound has a medical effect and is now widely utilised. The recitation of Quran or listening to the same has a wholesome effect on the body, the heart, and the mind. It is said that the letter ˜alif echoes to the heart and letter ˜ya echoes in the pineal gland in the brain. Dr. Ahmed El Kadi of Akbar Clinic, at Panama City, Florida, conducted and has published the effects of listening to the Quranic recitation on physiological parameters as for example the heart rate, the blood pressure and the muscle tension and reported improvement in all, irrespective of whether the listener is a Muslim or a non- Muslim, Arab or non-Arab.

4)      Meet and discuss the issues or problem with the person we have conflict with

This may be difficult to us but this is the most effective way to solve the problem that we are having with the person or the group that we have strife with. This is to find the better solution and point of similarity so there will be a win: win situation and no grudge and malice between both parties. As Allah mentioned in Quran; œAnd hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favour of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided.Â  (3:103)

As stated above, it all for what an individual can do to prevent anger, stress or jealous so that they can reduce the possibility to commit something unexpected like kidnapping and  worse case murdering people. This is because everyone has a possibility to become a murderer if we did not manage our stress and anger. In addition as a society, we should protect our own community and take care of the fairs of every member on it. For the government, maybe it is time to recheck and revise again the rules and punishment for murder so that the people in the masses will fear to commit this crime, and may be the time for shariah rules and regulations are about to come in action?

May Allah protect us from every harmfulness in this world and bless us with goodness. ***