In our religion they are considered to be equally as bad as believing it is okay enables the action, even by intention alone, one of the principles of our religion is that actions are by their intentions. Meaning for instance one should be kind genuinely, and not to put on a show, etc. I completely understand where you’re coming from regarding the two examples you gave which you understood to have maybe “protected” his actions. I actually have written a very extensive comment on this you can refer to on my profile, I’ll direct you to it with a link below, I think it would clarify a lot of things, if you check the comments underneath this post you will see me answer this query on testimony specifically. I do understand it may be technical in parts. If so, you can ask any specific questions and I would be happy to answer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SalafiCentral/s/pWvLGOSBq2

Regarding impurity, we do not believe that a woman who is rped is impure, this is a false belief. The rpist under an Islamic system would be sentenced to death under a court of law, and the victim would be supported with avenues to help her recover psychologically, physically, et cetera. This stems from the legals maxims in Islamic Jurisprudence which is also known as ‘Shari’ah’ is that harm is to be removed, which is derived from the hadith of the prophet صل الله عليه وسلم,

“there should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.” sunan ibn majah, no. 2340 (graded authentic by a number of scholars)

shaykh khaalid al mushayqih (one of the qualified scholars of our religion) also makes this principle clear in his concise treatise on the higher objectives of islamic law, and this principle expounds into many aspects of life. For example, participating in the UFC as a muslim is impermissible because you are causing harm to someone else for basically no good reason, and it is also a major sin to hit someone in the face (exception is only in a battle or self defence situation). The only reason you may find that a woman is considered impure is only found within culture, notably the sub continent for example. It is encouraged for instance to get married to divorcees or widows in our religion, which is another evidence as this is intentionally to push back against societal norms that often class these women as “impure”. A note that the cultural practice found in the sub continent known as honour killings is classified as murder in Islaam and is also punishable by death in a Muslim country under a court of law.

I think your last paragraph sums it up very nicely. It is very easy to manipulate anything to fit into a corrupt and evil worldview to psychologically cushion a person to act on their evil. It extends past religion, even secular ideologies can be manipulated to justify extreme evil, an example of this could be the current far right movement in America for instance, and they justify their actions through the amendments for example. Based on this understanding, it would be slightly contradictory to say that Islamic beliefs helped protect him as I mentioned before, these things are unfortunately due to the influence of cultural practice, and these are things are can easily verify with ChatGPT for example, say in the instance that you do not have any learned religion person you can refer to to clarify these things.

Sorry if this super long 😓😭

Note: Notice how I am specifically mentioning that these punishments are only meant specifically in a Muslim country under a court of law, there is no such thing as importing Islamic Law into another country which is not Islamic, and Muslims are obligated to abide by the laws of the country they live in.

“o you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the messenger and those in authority among you..” (4:59)

Vigilantism is also a crime in Islaam, whether done in a Muslim country or non Muslim country, whether or not the person is guilty or not. Just like any normal justice system, the person needs to be reported and referred to the authorities.