Back ইজ্জত Bengali/Bangla İzzet DIQ Ιζζάτ (τιμή) Greek Izzat (honor) Spanish इज़्ज़त Hindi இசாத் (கௌரவம்) Tamil عزت Urdu
Izzat (Hindi: इज़्ज़त; Urdu: عزت; Bengali: ইজ্জত) is the concept of honour prevalent in the culture of North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.[1] It applies universally across religions (Hindu, Muslim and Sikh), communities and genders.[2][3][4] Maintaining the reputation of oneself and one's family is part of the concept of izzat, as is the obligatory taking of revenge when one's izzat has been violated.[5]
The concept of izzat has been viewed as curtailing the freedom of women, yet characterised on a general level as a concept that cuts across social hierarchy and enforces "equality in giving, but also equality in vengeance."[5][6] The idea of reciprocity, in both friendship and enmity, is deeply embedded in izzat. It is required that a person come to the assistance of those who have helped that person earlier.[5] To not do so is to dishonour one's debt and lose izzat.[5]
- ^ David Cheesman (1997), Landlord power and rural indebtedness in colonial Sind, 1865-1901, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7007-0470-5,
... Izzat remains to this day a critical part of life throughout Pakistan and northern India. Maintaining izzat is a driving motivation for vast numbers of people, from all communities and classes and in every walk of life ...
- ^ Naina Patel; Don Naik; Beth Humphries (1998), Visions of reality: religion and ethnicity in social work, Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (Great Britain), 1998, ISBN 978-1-85719-181-3,
... The concept of Izzat, shared equally by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs ...
- ^ Blackwood's magazine, Volume 211, W. Blackwood, 1922, 1922,
... In India the word izzat, honour or prestige, is commonly used by all classes of people ...
- ^ Syed Abdul Quddus (1992), Punjab, the land of beauty, love, and mysticism, Royal Book Co., 1992, ISBN 9789694071305,
... For Punjabi men and women alike, izzat means high status, prestige, honour, and power ...
- ^ a b c d Owen M. Lynch (January 1990), Divine passions: the social construction of emotion in India, University of California Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-520-06647-2,
... Izzat enjoined aid to those who had helped one. It also enjoined that revenge be exacted for personal insults and damage to person or property. If a man was threatened he must at least threaten back, for not to do so would be weakness ... Izzat was in fact the principle of reciprocity of gifts, plus the rule of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Giving was an attempt to bring a man of another family into one's debt, and acceptance of the gift involved the ...
- ^ Women, victims of social evils, Pakistan Institute of Security Management, 2002, 2002,
... and justified in the name of "so-called honour", though the reprisals to achieve revenge usually ... If Izzat is violated then it is justified to kill and die for it". As such Izzat is a male value derived and viewed ...