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SHARIA LAW FOR NON-MUSLIMS

by Bill Warner

  

These are chapters from an upcoming book: Sharia Law for Non-Muslims. The book was designed to be short, only 48 pages. Many people do not want to know anything about Islam, but experience shows that they may have an interest in Islamic law. Since it doesn't make any difference which part of a rope you pick up first, Sharia law is a great way to start learning about the true nature of Islam.

CHAPTER 1 - SHARIA LAW FOR NON-MUSLIMS

Sharia in Europe Today

When you study Islam in Europe today, you are seeing America in 20 years. Why? The actions by Muslims in Europe are based on Sharia law, the same Sharia law that is beginning to be implemented in America today.

Why Do We Need to Know Sharia?

ISLAMIC SCHOLARS CLAIM: Islamic law is perfect, universal and eternal. The laws of the United States are temporary, limited and will pass. It is the duty of every Muslim to obey the laws of Allah, the Sharia.

SHARIA: Sharia is based on the principles found in the Koran and other Islamic religious/political texts. There are no common principles between American law and Sharia.

Under Sharia law:

Unlike common law, Sharia is not interpretive, nor can it be changed

THE SOLUTION

This book uses a fact-based approach to knowledge that uses analytic or critical thought. When you finish reading, you will know what Sharia law is. More importantly you will know why Sharia is what it is. You will understand how Sharia "works" and why it cannot change. For the first time, you will understand Islam. It will all make sense.

The Three Views of Islam

There are three points of view in dealing with Islam. The point of view depends upon how you feel about Mohammed. If you believe Mohammed is the prophet of Allah, then you are a believer. If you don't, you are a nonbeliever. The third viewpoint is that of an apologist for Islam. Apologists do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet, but they try to be tolerant without any actual knowledge of Islam.

Here is an example of the three points of view.

In Medina, Mohammed sat all day long beside his 12-year-old wife while they watched as the heads of 800 Jews were removed by sword. Their heads were cut off because they had said that Mohammed was not the prophet of Allah. Muslims view these deaths as necessary because denying Mohammed's prophet-hood was an offense against Islam and beheading is the accepted method of punishment, sanctioned by Allah.

Nonbelievers look at this event as proof of the jihadic violence of Islam and as an evil act.

Apologists say that this was a historic event, that all cultures have violence in their past, and no judgment should be passed. They have never actually read any of Islam's foundational texts, but still speak authoritatively about Islam.

According to the different points of view, killing the 800 Jews was:

There is no "right" view of Islam, since the views cannot be reconciled.

This book is written from the nonbeliever point of view. Everything in this book views Islam from how it affects non-Muslims. This also means that the religion is of little importance. A Muslim cares about the religion of Islam, but all nonbelievers are affected by Islam's political views.

This book discusses Islam as a political system. There is no need to talk about Muslims or religion. Muslims are people and vary from one to another. Religion is what one does to go to Paradise and avoid Hell. It is not useful nor necessary to discuss Islam as a religion. But we have to talk about Islam in the political realm, because it is a powerful political system.

CHAPTER 2 - SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

What is Sharia?

Sharia law is Islamic law. Sharia is the basis for every demand that Muslims make on our society. When schools are asked to give up a room for Islamic prayer, that is asking us to implement Sharia law. When a Muslim wears a head scarf, that is in obedience to Sharia law. When our newspapers would not publish the Danish Mohammed cartoons, our newspapers were submitting to the demands of Sharia law. When demands are made for our hospitals to treat Muslim women in special ways, that is Sharia. When our textbooks have to be vetted by Muslim organizations before they are used in our schools, that is in accordance with Sharia law.

The attack on the World Trade Center was done in adherence to the rules of war, jihad, found in Sharia law. Sharia law is the basis for the religious, political and cultural life of all Muslims.

Sharia law is being implemented more and more in America and yet there is no knowledge about what Sharia actually is since public, private or religious schools do not teach it.

The Good News

The easiest way to learn about Islam is through Sharia law. Through learning about Sharia you are introduced to the Koran and Mohammed in a practical manner. It is easy to learn when you can see the direct application and examples.

When you know Sharia, Islam suddenly makes sense, it all fits together. Most people think Islam is complicated or even impossible to understand, but when you understand its principles, Islam is very, very logical. It is based on different views of humanity, logic, knowledge, and ethics. Once you understand the principles and logic, you not only can explain what and why something is happening, but you will be able to predict the next step in the process.

Understanding The Reference Numbers

Before you can understand Sharia, you have to learn about three books that are the basis of Sharia.

Each ruling or law in Sharia is based on a reference in the Koran or the Sunna, the perfect example of Mohammed (found in two texts-Hadith and Sira). Each and every law in Islam must come from the Koran and the Sunna.

We know the Sunna by knowing about the personal details of Mohammed's life. We know how he cleaned his teeth and which shoe he put on first. We know the Sunna because we have the Sira and the Hadith.

You probably think that the Koran is the bible of Islam. Not true. The bible of Islam is the Koran, the Sira and the Hadith. These three texts can be called the Trilogy.

The Koran is a small part, only 14% of the total words, of the doctrine that is Islam. The text devoted to the Sunna is 86% of the total textual doctrine of Islam. Islam is 14% Allah and 86% Mohammed.

Sharia is nothing more than a condensation and extrapolation of the Koran and the Sunna. Therefore, it is impossible to understand the Sharia without some understanding about the doctrine found in the Koran, Hadith and the Sira. Turn to any page after this chapter and you will find that most of the paragraphs have an index number.

The classic Sharia law text is the Reliance of the Traveller, N. Keller, Amana Publications. (Yes, the correct spelling is Traveller with a double l.) It is a 1,200 page book devoted to such subjects as: political control of non-Muslims, prayer, jihad, wills and estates, punishment, court rules, and land use. It covers legalities and theology.

Here is a typical paragraph:

08.0 APOSTACY FROM ISLAM

08.1 When a person who has reached puberty and is sane, voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed.

[Bukhari 9,83,17] Mohammed: “A Muslim who has admitted that there is no god but Allah and that I am His prophet may not be killed except for three reasons: as punishment for murder, for adultery, or for apostasy.”

The 08.1 is an index number in the Sharia law text, The Reliance of the Traveller. The text is divided into divisions, a, b, c, ... This particular law is found in division o; section 8; subsection 1. With the index number, 08.1, you can read the source, The Reliance of the Traveller.

We not only have the law, apostates (people who leave Islam) should be killed, but we have the supporting doctrine found in a hadith, a sacred text used along with the Koran. A hadith is what Mohammed did or said. This particular hadith is by Bukhari, the major collector of Mohammed's stories. Notice the index number--9,83,17. This is like a chapter and verse index so that you can go and read the original. All of the Hadith, including Bukhari, can be found on many university Internet sites. Here is a Sharia law supported by the Koran:


09.0 JIHAD Jihad means war against Kafirs to establish Islam. Koran 2:216 You are commanded to fight although you dislke it. You may hate something that is good for you, and love something that is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not.

Here we have the Sharia defining what jihad is and then gives its foundational reference for the authority. Again, you can verify the accuracy of the Koran verses and the original reference, 09.0, in the Reliance of the Traveller.

There is one last type of reference to a supporting document.

DEALING WITH A REBELLIOUS WIFE
m10.12 When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness... Ishaq969 ... Men were to lay injunctions on women lightly for they were prisoners of men and had no control over their persons.

Here we have the usual Sharia reference number, m10.12, which allows you to read the original reference. The Ishaq index number, 969, is a margin note reference that allows you to look in the Sira (Mohammed's biography-The Life of Muhammad, A. Guillaume) and verify the truth of the reference.

Believable And Authoritative

This is fact-based knowledge based upon critical thought and analysis. What you see here can all be independently verified for yourself.

This is a very different approach than asking a Muslim or an "expert" in the media. If a Muslim or any expert says something about Islam that disagrees with the Koran or Sunna, then the expert is wrong. If the expert says something that agrees with Koran or Sunna, then the expert is right, but redundant.

Once you know Koran and Sunna, you don't need anybody else.

Poltical Islam

The largest part of the Trilogy is not about how to be a good Muslim. Instead most of the text is devoted to the unbeliever. The Koran devotes 64% of its total words to the unbeliever and the Trilogy, as a whole, devotes 60% of its text to the unbelievers.

Islam is NOT a religion. It is a complete civilization with a detailed political system, religion and a legal code-the Sharia. Mohammed preached the religion of Islam for 13 years in Mecca and got 150 Arabs to convert to Islam. He went to Medina and became a politician and a war-lord. After 2 years in Medina, every Jew was murdered, enslaved, or exiled. He was involved in an event of violence on the average of every 6 weeks for the last 9 years of his life. Mohammed died without a single enemy left standing.

This was not a religious process, but a political process. Jihad is political action with a religious motivation. Political Islam is the doctrine that deals with the non-Muslim.

Mohammed did not succeed with his program of religion, but his political process of jihad triumphed. Sharia law is the political implementation of the Islamic civilization.

The political nature of Islam is what creates the major difference between Sharia and Jewish religious law, halaka. Jewish law has nothing to say about non-Jews and explicitly says that the law of the land trumps halaka.

Sharia has a lot to say about Kafirs and how they are to be treated, subjugated and ruled. Sharia claims political supremacy over the Constitution.

There is nothing good for non-Muslims in the Sharia. This is why every unbeliever has a reason to know Sharia law, especially those in politics, policy, regulation and legal matters. Sharia law is about the unbeliever as well as the Muslim. Islam's attitudes and actions about unbelievers are political, not religious.

Even though Sharia violates every principle of our Constitution, it is being implemented today, since Islam is seen as only as a religion.

Muslims And Sharia

Non-Muslims call Muslims that seem nice, moderate Muslims. This use of the word "moderate" is not based on Islam.

A moderate Muslim is one who follows the Sharia. As much as they follow the Sharia, they are a Muslim. To the degree they don't follow the Sharia, they are a failure at being a Muslim.

The Sharia is based on the perfect, unchanging Koran and Sunna. Therefore, the Sharia is perfect and unchanging. If every Muslim in the world wanted to change a single letter of the Koran, the Sunna or the Sharia, they could not. How can perfection be improved? How can an eternal text be changed? Since the Sharia is nothing more than a codification of perfect, unchanging, universal texts, it is a perfect, unchanging and universal legal code.

Technical Details
If you read something in this book and want to know more, most paragraphs have an index number. You can look it up.
Koran 1:2 is a reference to the Koran, chapter 1, verse 2.
Ishaq 123 is a reference to Ishaq's Sira, margin note 123.
[Bukhari 1,3,4] is a reference to Sahih Bukhari, volume 1, book 3, number 4. (Sahih means authoritative and authentic.)
[Muslim 012, 1234] is a reference to Sahih Muslim, book 12, number 1234.

CHAPTER 3 - LAWS CONCERNING WOMEN

Islamic Scholars Claim:

THE SHARIA: Sharia law has different laws for different groups of people. Women are one of its special classes. wife beating

Islam's grand vision about women is given in one verse of the Koran:

Koran 4:34 Allah has made men superior to women because men spend their wealth to support them. Therefore, virtuous women are obedient, and they are to guard their unseen parts as Allah has guarded them. As for women whom you fear will rebel, admonish them first, and then send them to a separate bed, and then beat them. But if they are obedi-ent after that, then do nothing further; surely Allah is exalted and great!

THE SHARIA: dealing with a rebellious wife

m10.12 When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife whether in words as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely, or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, con-trary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful, he warns her in words without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse.

The warning could be to tell her, "Fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me,"

or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her, "Your obeying me is religiously obligatory".

If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (having sex) with her and refuses to speak to her, and may hit her, but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not bruise her, break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow. It is unlawful to strike another's face. He may hit her whether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may not hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness.

Ishaq969 He [Mohammed] also told them men had rights over their wives and women had rights over their husbands. The wives were never to commit adultery or act in a sexual manner toward others. If they did, they were to be put in separate rooms and beaten lightly. If they refrained from what was forbidden, they had the right to food and clothing. Men were to lay injunctions on women lightly for they were prisoners of men and had no control over their persons.

[Abu Dawud 11, 2142] Mohammed said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.

[Bukhari 7,62,132] The Prophet said, "None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day." Most of those in Hell will be women.

The Doctrine of Women

There are many ways in which the woman does not have full stature in Sharia law:

022.1 The necessary qualifications for being an Islamic judge are: (a) to be a male freeman [...]

04.9 The indemnity for the death or injury of a woman is one-half the indemnity paid for a man.

[Bukhari 3,48,826] Mohammed asked, "Is not the value of a woman's eye-witness testimony half that of a man's?" A woman said, "Yes." He said, "That is because a woman's mind is deficient."

L10.3 They divide the universal share so that the male receives the portion of two females.

Koran 4:11 It is in this manner that Allah commands you concerning your children: A male should receive a share equal to that of two fe-males, [...]

This hadith equates camels, slaves and women.

[Abu Dawud 11, 2155] Mohammed said: If one of you mar-ries a woman or buys a slave, he should say: "O Allah, I ask You for the good in her, and in the disposition You have given her; I take refuge in You from the evil in her, and in the disposition You have given her." When he buys a camel, he should take hold of the top of its hump and say the same kind of thing.

Women are inferior to men in intelligence and religion.

[Bukhari 1,6,301] While on his way to pray, Mohammed passed a group of women and he said, "Ladies, give to charities and donate money to the unfortunate, because I have witnessed that most of the people in Hell are women.
They asked, "Why is that?"
He answered, "You swear too much, and you show no grati-tude to your husbands. I have never come across anyone more lacking in intelligence, or ignorant of their religion than women. A careful and intelligent man could be misled by many of you."
They responded, "What exactly are we lacking in intelligence or faith?"
Mohammed said, "Is it not true that the testimony of one man is the equal to the testimony of two women?"
After they affirmed that this was true, Mohammed said, "That illustrates that women are lacking in intelligence. Is it not also true that women may not pray nor fast during their menstrual cycle?"
They said that this was also true.
Mohammed then said, "That illustrates that women are lacking in their religion."

A woman's testimony is worth half that of a man.

Koran 2:282 Believers! When you contract a loan for a certain period, write it down, or to be fair, let a scribe write it down. The scribe should not re-fuse to write as Allah has taught him; therefore, let the scribe record what the debtor dictates being mindful of his duty to Allah and not re-ducing the amount he owes. If the debtor is ignorant and unable to dic-tate, let his guardian do so with fairness. Call two men in to witness this, but if two men cannot be found, then call one man and two women whom you see fit to be witnesses. Therefore, if either woman makes an error, the other can correct her [...]

Female Genital Mutilation, Female Circumcision

It is unfortunate that the term circumcision is applied to both the re-moval of the foreskin of the male and the removal of the clitoris of the woman. There is no comparison.

[Bukhari 7,72,779] Mohammed said, "Five practices are characteristics of the ancient prophets: circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, cutting the moustaches short, clipping the nails, and depilating the hair of the armpits."

This hadith refers to the circumcision of female genitalia. It assumes that both the man and the woman are circumcised.

[Muslim 003,0684] [...] Abu Musa then said, "When is a bath obligatory?" Aisha responded, "You have asked the right person. Mohammed has said that a bath is obligatory when a man is encompassed by a woman and their circumcised genitalia touch."

Circumcision is part of the Sharia law. Here is the deceptive transla-tion:

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory for both men and women. For men it con-sists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, remov-ing the prepuce of the clitoris (not the clitoris itself, as some mistak-enly assert).

However what the Arabic actually says is:

e4.3 Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris (this is called Hufaad)."

This deceptive translation obscures the Sharia law. This deception is called taqiyya, a form of sacred deception.

At the battle of Badr, we have a reference to the custom of removing the clitoris.

Ishaq 564 Hamza said, 'Come here, you son of a female circumciser.' Now his mother was Umm Anmar, a female circumciser (one who circumcised girls) in Mecca. Then Hamza smote him and killed him.

o12.0 THE PENALTY FOR FORNICATION

o12.6 If the penalty is stoning, they are to be stoned, no matter the weather, or if they are ill. A pregnant woman is not stoned until she gives birth and the child does not need to nurse.

[Muslim 017, 4206] ... There came to Mohammed a woman who said: Allah's Messenger, I have committed adultery, [...] When she was delivered she came with the child (wrapped) in a rag and said: Here is the child whom I have given birth to. He said: Go away and suckle him until you wean him. When she had weaned him, she came to him with the child who was hold-ing a piece of bread in his hand. She said: Allah's Apostle, here is he as I have weaned him and he eats food. He entrusted the child to one of the Muslims and then pronounced punishment. And she was put in a ditch up to her chest and he commanded people and they stoned her. ...

Honor Killing

Honor killing is not directly included in Sharia doctrine. Sharia dictates that a woman is inferior to the male and allows beatings to enforce the rule of the male, but it does not accord honor killing a legal status. However, there is no penalty for killing an adulterer:

o5.4 There is no expiation for killing someone who has left Islam, a highwayman or a convicted married adulterer...

e12.8 ... unworthy (those who may be killed) includes ... convicted mar-ried adulterers...

This seems to include equal penalties for both men and women, how-ever, a man has many legal ways to have sex, while the woman is strictly limited to her husband alone. Hence, the woman is much more likely to be killed.

The man rules the woman, and his status in the community depends upon how his women conduct themselves. Ghira is sacred jealousy, even Allah has ghira. Ghira is also self-respect and is the basis of honor killings. Notice that in this hadith Saed's threat to kill a man with his wife is not condemned, but supported. Violence in defense of a Muslim's ghira is pure Islam.

[Bukhari 8,82,829; Bukhari 9,93,512] Saed bin Ubada said, "If I saw a man with my wife, I would strike him with the blade of my sword." This news reached Mohammed, who then said, "You people are astonished at Saed's ghira (self-respect). By Al-lah, I have more ghira than he, and Allah has more ghira than I, and because of Allah's ghira, He has made unlawful shameful deeds and sins done in open and in secret. [...]

Most honor killings come from Islamic societies.
 

Bill Warner is Director of the Center for the Study of Political Islam. He hosts an impressive website on Political Islam. Contact him by email at bw@politicalislam.com. Visit the website at www.politicalislam.com

Chapter 1 was distributed May 20, 2010, Chapter 2 May 31, 2010 and Chapter 3 June 12, 2010. These are chapter of a forthcoming book and are available on http://www.politicalislam.com. The next chapters will appear in the next issue.

 

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