The Stoning of Soraya

Soraya's Murder

Would you intentionally accuse your spouse to be stoned to death? The film The Stoning of Soraya M., is a great example of how a husband abused his power as a man against people in his village in order to get his wife killed. Spouse corruption led to the injustice murder of Soraya. There were other ways Soraya's punishment could have been resolved, and a real judge should order for a court ruling of death to occur. Corruption and the abuse of power led to the murder of Soraya, which is why the universalist position is my approach for this paper.

In the film, the people who made the main decisions for the town were the mayor and the mullah. It was very easy for the mullah to convince the mayor that Soraya had committed adultery. Ali, Soraya's husband, blackmailed the mullah about his past in order to convince him to talk to Soraya about getting a divorce. Soraya doesn't want a divorce, because her husband would leave her with no financial support. Ali and the mullah would then find a way to trick the mayor in believing Soraya had cheated with a male widowed villager, Hashem, by stirring up a plot by saying Soraya had smiled and touched Hashem when she was helping him. The mayor couldn't believe that Soraya had caused an infidelity, so he demanded solid proof of this incident. Ali was a witness and Hashem was threatened to lie. Ali forced Hashem to lie by saying Soraya did take "a nap" at his house.

The mayor was finally convinced that Soraya did commit adultery, and according to the Iranian law, she needed to be stoned to death. One can easily imagine the world's reaction when the sentences are carried out and receive worldwide publicity in the electronic media. Soraya's village did not think the story of her death would leave town, until they met the journalist and his voice recorder. Soraya should have just been punished by getting a divorce and not receiving any financial support from Ali.

No regard to the natural rights we presume to be universal in a 21st century society where present for Soraya. A proper court would have allowed Soraya to the right to be present at her own trial, to testify in her own defense, to cross-examine the witnesses against herself, or to be represented by counsel. Soraya's death could be categorized as a legitimate murder.

The universalist position identifies rules that apply across cultures in the world. Soraya was murdered by an injustice and corrupted ruling, which cannot be found in any culture amongst the globe. Most people that know they have such power to get what they want will use their authority to succeed in life. For Ali, he used his role as a national guard to blackmail the mullah about his past and to threaten Hashem. The universalist position would justify Ali to be taken from this world, not Soraya.