Arab Man’s Dream of Becoming Executioner Comes True
The executions always draw an admiring crowd.
Saudi Arabia is lucky to have an enthusiastic work force to meet the needs of the 21st Century. A case in point is the multi-talented Zamil. Formerly a bird hunter in The Magic Kingdom, it occurred to him one day, “Heck. I should get into the executioner racket. There are no birds to speak of in this damn desert, but there seems to be no end to the people that need killing”. Because in Saudi Arabia you can be executed for reading the Bible, being an apostate, raping or getting yourself raped, among many, many other things.
Opportunity finally knocked on the plucky Zamil’s door.
Bisha’s one-man firing squad
“ABHA: Zamil, a 55-year-old Saudi, has turned his hobby of hunting birds into a profession of executing criminals by gunfire.
Being an executioner has been a wish of his for a long time. Then eight years ago he had the opportunity to express his professional aspiration to Hussain bin Zalfah, the governor of Bisha, about 115 km east of Baha, in the Asir province.The governor agreed to help him, and Zamil was on his way.
“Zamil, who has an elementary school education, said that before he carried out his first execution he went to Riyadh for sword training and to attend the beheading of three criminals in the country’s capital. But having never touched a sword, Zamil declined to use it to execute criminals and became a one-man firing squad in Bisha.
“I fire bullets at the heart from the back of the criminal to make sure he or she dies quickly without prolonging the pain,†he said. “I have executed two women: an Indonesian maid who killed her employer and a Saudi housewife who killed her husband.â€
Now I know some are going to say “wait a darn minute here, isn’t that cheating?”. I mean just because you flunked the head chopping class doesn’t mean you get to willy nilly choose any old method of killing. The public expects a proper show, for Allah’s sake. But, it seems there is a loop hole.
“While the traditional form of execution in the Kingdom is public beheading, other forms of capital punishment are permitted in Shariah.
“Shariah does not prevent the use of the gun in place of the traditional sword,†said Sheikh Muhammad Al-Nujaimi, a scholar. “The differences among the ulema in this respect have no root in the Shariah.â€
Al-Nujaimi, however, said death by hanging or by electric chairs is against the principles of Shariah because these may prolong the agony and pain”.
The always sensible Wafa Sultan
The following highly informative Youtube video is of Wafa Sultan, a Muslim woman, speaking about the religion of Islam.
Speaking of prolonging the agony, Zamil shares this tidbit with us:
“He said one day he waited for three hours as the spectators were imploring the family of the murder victim to forgive the condemned man. It is common for executioners to wait for any last-minute reprieve. In this case, despite the prolonged wait, there was no reprieve and the execution took place.”
Such a guy. And he really does it more for the pleasure than the money, a measly $1,066 per execution.
And the talent runs deep:
“Zamil said he was encouraging his 15-year-old son to be an executioner after noticing the boy’s disposition.”
Sweet.
by pat
Source - Arab News – Bisha’s One Man Firing Squad
Image - hammorabi.blogspot.com
Hey man, he’s just doing the job other Muslims won’t do. Oh wait….
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The executioner’s story was sad commentary. It reminds me of the TV show Dexter, where a man with murderous tendencies works for the police to satisfy his urgers in more socially accepable way. Zamil makes his living from killing people, but even though I am horrified that he appears to have no remorse for his actions (and is even recommending this line of work to his son), I see a double standard. Your article seems to be directed specifically at Muslin executioners as being especially dastardly and not to all executions. In many other countires and in most US states they have the death penalty, and people are hired to kill other people as well. Killing is killing, I would imagine the terror that a condemnded man (or woman) faces before being executed is all the same whether you are shot in the back of the head; tied down and electricuted; or injected with a lethal poison.
But what I really liked was the video! This woman is brilliant and a bright becon of hope for Muslims around the world, even though she says she is non-secluar. I will look for her name in the media and hopefully will heard more from her in the future.
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pat Reply:
January 7th, 2009 at 23:37
There is one difference. In America such a story would not be in the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal as a puff piece. This man would be treated as the psycho he is. In America, Doctors perform executions. Usually a Doctor and 2 nurses. And it is not for being of the wrong religion or defending oneself from abuse.
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Obama wants to work with Hamas, not against them:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas
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great story. the video was brilliant. as to the moral dilemma that some might have with the act of killing someone, dont blame the executioner he is just doing a job…like pig farming (all the pigs will eventually die and not from natural causes, but how much do you love bacon?). what people should be pissed off about is the arbitrary laws or judicial systems that create and enforce laws that kill needlessly.
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ahahaha…hahaha…hahaha…u’r so funny.
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