Opinion: Sharia for dummies

Imam Feisal Abdel Rauf claims that Islamic Sharia Law is compatible with the US Constitution.

By NONIE DARWISH
Gaza women protest 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Gaza women protest 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Imam Feisal Abdel Rauf claims that Islamic Sharia Law is compatible with the US Constitution. Let us examine a few actual Sharia laws to see how well that claim stands up under scrutiny:
1. It is obligatory for a Muslim to lie if the purpose is obligatory. That means that for the sake of abiding by Islam’s commandments, such as jihad, a Muslim is obliged to lie, and should have no feelings of guilt or shame.
2. Jihad, defined as “war against non-Muslims to establish the religion,” is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (caliph). Caliphs who refuse jihad are in violation of Sharia and unfit to rule.
3. A caliph can seize power by force.
4. A caliph is exempt from being charged with serious crimes such as murder, adultery, robbery, theft, drinking and in some cases rape.
5. A percentage of zakat (charity money) must go towards jihad.
6. It is obligatory to obey the commands of the caliph, even if he is unjust.
7. A caliph must be a Muslim, a non-slave and a male.
8. The Muslim public must remove the caliph if he rejects Islam.
9. A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
10. A Muslim will be forgiven for the murder of: 1) an apostate 2) an adulterer 3) a highway robber.
11. A Muslim will not be executed if he kills a non- Muslim, but will be executed for killing a Muslim.
12. Sharia never abolished slavery or sexual slavery. A master will not be punished for killing his slave.
13. Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, and flogging even for crimes such as adultery.
14. Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims under the law. They must comply to Islamic law if they are to remain safe. They are forbidden to marry Muslim women, publicly display wine or pork, recite their scriptures or openly celebrate their religious holidays or funerals. They are forbidden from building new churches or building them higher than mosques. A non-Muslim is no longer protected if he leads a Muslim away from Islam.
15. It is a crime for a non-Muslim to sell weapons to someone who will use them against Muslims. Non- Muslims cannot curse a Muslim, say anything derogatory about Allah, the Prophet or Islam, or expose the weak points of Muslims. But the same does not apply to Muslims.
16. A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim.
17. Banks must be Sharia compliant, and interest is not allowed.
18. No testimony in court is acceptable from people in lowlevel jobs, such as street sweepers or bathhouse attendants.
Women in low-level jobs such as professional mourners cannot keep custody of their children in case of divorce.
19. A non-Muslim cannot rule, even over a non-Muslim minority.
20. Homosexuality is punishable by death.
21. There is no lower age limit for marriage of girls. The marriage contract can take place any time after birth, and be consummated at age eight or nine.
22. Rebelliousness on the part of a wife nullifies the husband’s obligation to support her and gives him permission to beat her.
23. Divorce is entirely in the hands of the husband, and is as easy as saying: “I divorce you.”
24. There is no community property between husband and wife, and the husband’s property does not automatically go to the wife after his death.
25. A woman inherits half what a man inherits.
26. A man has the right to have up to four wives.
27. The dowry is given in exchange for the woman’s sexual organs.
28. A man is allowed to have sex with slave women and women captured in battle. If the slave woman is already married, her marriage is annulled.
29. The testimony of a woman in court carries half the value of a man’s.
30. A woman loses custody of her children if she remarries.
31. To prove rape, a woman must provide four male witnesses.
32. A rapist may be required to pay the bride-money (dowry), without marrying the victim.
33. A Muslim woman must cover every inch of her body which is considered awrah, a sexual organ. Not all Sharia schools allow the face of a woman to be exposed.
34. A Muslim man is forgiven if he kills his wife on catching her in the act of adultery. However, the opposite is not true for women, since he “could be married to the woman he was caught with.”
The above are all well-established sharia laws in Islam.
Will the learned Imam Rauf please tell us what part of the above is compatible with the US constitution?
The writer is the author of Cruel and Usual Punishment; the terrifying global implications of Islamic law, and founder of Former Muslims United.


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