What Sharia law is and isn’t
Click here for reuse options!Shariah doesn’t simply or exactly mean Islamic law. Properly speaking, Shariah refers to God’s blueprint for human life. It is divine and unchanging, reflecting God’s unity and perfection. It can be found in God’s revealed word in the Quran and in the divinely guided actions of the Prophet Muhammad.
In contrast, another Arabic word, “fiqh,” refers to the interpretation and application of Shariah in the real world. Fiqh is Islamic law as practiced by people. Because it’s a product of human reasoning used to understand God’s word, Islamic law is subject to debate and imperfection.
The distinction between Shariah and fiqh matters especially because Muslims, including religiously traditional Muslims, do not all agree on what Islamic law requires in practice. They’re disagreeing about what God wants, to be sure. But almost all faithful Muslims would say that they believe there is a single, truthful answer that lies in Shariah — we just cannot be absolutely sure as humans what that answer is.
…the establishment clause of the United States Constitution would already have prohibited civil courts from applying religious law. And in 2013, a federal district court rightly struck it down as an unconstitutional effort to single out Muslims and Islam.
Mr. Gingrich’s comments are the latest iteration in the effort to make Shariah into a target. His goal seems to be to disclaim condemnation of Muslims per se by saying that Muslims would not be dangerous as long as they rejected Shariah.
But that’s like saying Christians would be acceptable so long as they repudiated the doctrine of Christ’s divinity, or that Jews could be tolerated if they denied God’s revelation to Moses at Sinai. Shariah is that central to orthodox Islamic faith.
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
8 responses to What Sharia law is and isn’t
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
MyDogsAreSmarterThanYou July 16th, 2016 at 16:24
Christian conservatives, like Phil Robertson, generally support the imposition of religious law.
Red Mann July 16th, 2016 at 18:46
Not simply religious law, it’s GOD’S law, from the One True God (TM).
Robert M. Snyder July 17th, 2016 at 11:06
According to a Pew Survey of Muslims in 38 countries:
“Overwhelming percentages of Muslims in many countries want Islamic law (sharia) to be the official law of the land, according to a worldwide survey by the Pew Research Center. But many supporters of sharia say it should apply only to their country’s Muslim population.”
“Moreover, Muslims are not equally comfortable with all aspects of sharia: While most favor using religious law in family and property disputes, fewer support the application of severe punishments – such as whippings or cutting off hands – in criminal cases. The survey also shows that Muslims differ widely in how they interpret certain aspects of sharia, including whether divorce and family planning are morally acceptable.”
“The survey involved a total of more than 38,000 face-to-face interviews in 80-plus languages. It covered Muslims in 39 countries, which are divided into six regions in this report – Southern and Eastern Europe (Russia and the Balkans), Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.”
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-overview/
MyDogsAreSmarterThanYou July 17th, 2016 at 16:42
What’s that have to do with people in the US that wish to force people to recognize, and adhere to the demands of, the Christian god?
Robert M. Snyder July 17th, 2016 at 17:28
The blog post was about Sharia Law.
In each religion there are people who want their religious law to be the law of the land. I don’t like it when Christians try to impose their religious laws on the land, and I wouldn’t like it if Muslims did that.
According to the Pew poll, a lot of Muslims DO want sharia law to be the law of the land. So if you think it’s only Christians who want to enforce religious law on other people, then you need to look at the Pew survey results.
If you don’t want Christian laws to become the law of the land, then you should have no trouble understanding why some of us are equally concerned about people who might want to impose sharia law.
I have no problem with people voluntarily obeying whatever religious laws they want. But I don’t want any religion imposing religious laws on the general populace. I don’t think that Muslims living in the US today are calling for that. But the Muslims surveyed by Pew seem to favor imposing sharia law. So it makes sense to ask ALL new immigrants whether they are willing to support and defend the Constitution, which includes the separation of church and state.
MyDogsAreSmarterThanYou July 18th, 2016 at 02:02
“So if you think it’s only Christians…” Except I said no such thing. As for you not wanting Christian law imposed, I can’t recall seeing any condemnations from you on articles where the discussion is elected officials advocating the promotion of Christianity in secular institutions or settings. In fact, the most vocal people against Sharia law generally seem to be those who claim that this is a Christian nation, and lament that Christianity isn’t forced upon school children. Our military is already subject to Christian law, as one, by law, must recognize the Christian god when taking the oath.
fahvel July 17th, 2016 at 03:29
and every one of these religions, following some blsht blather, are the fundamental cause for nearly all suffering and unjust death on earth since the damned apple in the garden.
whatthe46 July 18th, 2016 at 02:11
parents have actually fought in court to have the right NOT to seek medical attention for their child because their “god” would heal him/her. i’ve always said that if GOD would have intended for your child to become sick and die, then he wouldn’t have blessed those persons with knowledge to save sick people. and some of these very same people, will call fuckin’ 911 for a damn paper cut scratch.