Even though the internet is full of reputable sources for finding out about Sharia Law, people continue to misunderstand it. This is partly because of the recent trend that associates Sharia Law with extremism and terrorism. This trend stems from one clear source: a 2010 report published by the Center for Security Policy (CSP).
The CSP is a conservative think tank that supports mainly neoconservative values. Their mission is to inform the public and policymakers on what they consider to be threats to national security. In their 2010 report titled “Sharia: The Threat to America” they outlined what they considered to be the most important threat of our time, Sharia Law. The term “Sharia Threat” was born and conservative bloggers have never had so much fun.
But the basic message of the report is based on a flawed understanding of Sharia Law, or at least some major contradictions. The report correctly states that:
…Sharia is a reference point for a Muslim’s personal conduct, not a corpus to be imposed on the life of a pluralistic society.
But then goes on to state that Sharia law is a threat to freedom and is incompatible with our Constitution. How can a reference point for your personal life be incompatible with our Constitution, which was was designed partly to protect freedom in personal life?
Sharia Law is interpreted differently by different communities of Muslims. Some are extreme, yes, but most are not. In the same nature, some Jews and Christians are extreme and most are not.
The “Sharia Threat” must sound silly to most Muslims, since for them Sharia law determines how they conduct their personal religious lives. How can prayer and fasting threaten national security?
The Sharia Threat theory is based on an ill-advised understanding of Sharia law that allows an extremist, anti Muslim group to cherry-pick phrases from Muslim sacred texts. The selected phrases are used to paint an incorrect picture of Sharia law. The same could be done with the Bible, or the Torah.
Christians don’t do half the terrible things mentioned in the Bible, like stoning people to death. Same with sharia law, which is also full of antiquated, extreme-sounding punishments that have faded out over time.
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Um, the “sharia law…is also full of antiquated, extreme-sounding punishments that have faded out over time.” What? Isn’t there still stoning of women who have been raped?! Disgusting.
Sharia law is for those who wish to be of that faith…. America is, however One Nation Under GOD !! Thank you for your insights but nobody of the islamic faith fought to build America from nothing, nor endure the struggles of our people in our Civil War that United us, nor fight against Hitler to free others……I could go on… so worship as you please, be thankful America’s Godly virtue and values was such that you chose to live here free, but don’t plan on changing America to be like your country.
Often times Sharia law is confused with the local law, customs, or practices of uneducated people who think they are observing sharia law. Stoning or persecution of women who are raped is one of them. It is bizarre and stupid but it is not Sharia law. Stoning of adulterers in general cannot be done unless there are 4 eye witnesses to the act.
What I think burns most non-Muslim Americans is the absence of outspoken American Muslim outrage over theocratic (and, by extension, the extreme enforcement of Sharia law) rule in Iran and certain other countries. In general, the perception is that, under these theocrats, if you don’t believe and act correctly, you’re subject to severe consequences, potentially even death. This view, obviously, is not consistent with the American Constitution. Why extremists of any type believe that they can force their beliefs on another is beyond me. Is it that they believe their god is so weak that he cannot exact justice himself and thus allows his earthly followers to exact it for him? I do not know for sure, but I suspect that. I work and live around a number of Muslim believers. None have sought to impose their beliefs on me, nor me on them. I do have my own Christian beliefs and it is my charge to spread that Word broadly that others may hear; that some would hear and not believe is a personal choice they make – and whatever consequences they face at the divine moment will between them and God, not me, much like they will be for me if my beliefs turn out not to be true. The leaderless Muslim faith needs a voice of reason, yet what most Americans see is the continued fighting between Shiite and Sunni – something that might be likened to Baptists fighting Catholics. America is the great country that it is because of religious tolerance – you can believe what you want to believe and not be persecuted for that. Unfortunately, a prominent Muslim society like Iran taints the view of many, and thus of those the same faith that live here and elsewhere.
I fail to see how death is a just punishment for adultery. Perhaps if one was married to Pharaoh, who had an interest in passing his kingdom to his true blood sons (or a European king like Henry 8 who beheaded Queen Katherine Howard for adultery and endangering the royal blood). But for the average man, what is the point? Or for the average woman? Surely one might wish to kill one’s cheating spouse, but there can hardly be a divine mandate to do so! I do believe that adultery is nasty and there should be some sort of social condemnation, but death? Mutilation? Not quite. As for rape, I always thought that in Islam rape was a capital offense? The rapist is killed, not the victim, correct?
What is Shariah? (A Short Course Part 1)
by the Center for Security Policy
“Adherents to shariah are fundamentally and unalterably opposed to the survival of the Constitution of the United States. Shariah is based on the Quran, which Muslims believe is the “uncreated” word of Allah as dictated to the prophet Mohammed; hadiths, the sayings of Mohammed; and agreed interpretations by Islamic scholars. Shariah commands that Muslims carry out jihad indefinitely until the Dar al-Harb, or House of War, where shariah is not enforced, is brought under the domination of the Dar al Islam, or House of Islam (literally the House of Submission), where shariah is enforced.
Shariah commands both Islamic terrorism and pre-violent, “civilizational jihad” or “stealth jihad,” depending on necessity and circumstances. Those who work to insinuate shariah into the United States are conspiring to subvert and replace the Constitution, because under shariah, freedom of religion and other civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution – and the very concept of man-made law – are incompatible with Islam.
Any system of man-made law is considered illicit under shariah, where Allah and only Allah has provided the law.”
read the remainder at:
http://shariahthethreat.org/a-short-course-1-what-is-shariah/
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