Saturday, November 5, 2011

University of Richmond: About Sharia Law



As a 2011 Westhampton College graduate now working as a religion reporter and news editor, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to Qasim Rashid’s Nov. 2 article, “Five Shariah insights for students at UR.”

In America, we have separation of church and state. Islamic law, or Shariah, fuses church and state. Shariah is not culture, as some Muslims claim, but the religion of Islam itself. Shariah encompasses the words of Allah in the Qur’an and the words of Mohammed in the Hadith. Because Muslims believe the Qur’an is divine, its law is divine, immutable and infallible.

Allah says the goal of Islam is to take over the world (Sura 8:39), and Muslims believe human nature must be subject to Shariah. The teachings of Shariah are disturbing, and just a quick glimpse into the Qur’an is enough to discredit the practice of Shariah in America.

For example, the Qur’an says repeatedly that women are not equal to men: Women receive half the inheritance of men in the court of law (4:11); a woman’s role in court is diminished (2:282); men can divorce women but women can’t divorce men (2:229-30); and men can beat their wives if they merely suspect rebellion (4:34). Islamic law also dictates that women must wear burqas to cover their whole bodies except their left eye (33:59) — it is not culture, it is law. Where is the justice, as Mr. Rashid says, in this? The U.S. Constitution says all people are created equal, but Shariah enforces patriarchy and misogyny.

Women are not the only ones oppressed under Shariah. According to Islamic law, the punishment for homosexuality is execution, as stated in the Hadith (Abu Dawud 38:4447). Need I say more?
Islamic law also teaches honor killings. Sura 6:151 says, “Do not kill the soul, which Allah forbids, except for a just cause.” What is the “just cause”? Mohammed says women who commit adultery or any Muslims who kill other Muslims or leave Islam must have their blood shed. Additionally, Muslims are commanded to decapitate Jews and Christians (47:4). They are also commanded to cut off the hands of thieves no matter if one dollar or one million dollars was stolen (5:38) — again, where is the justice in a punishment that does not match the crime? More Here

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