This is only a small analysis of the Islamic Sharia Law and we have published another more detailed analysis Sharia: Barbaric or Perfect?
Misconceptions About Sharia
People misconcieve Sharia to a sort of mob-justice, which anyone can carry out, which is a myth. Sharia is a complete system of Law and can only be carried out by a court of Law.
Often laws are attributed to Sharia, which really are NOT a part of it. For example, a widespread misconception about Sharia Law is that it punishes the rape Victum and encourages Honor killing. But in fact Sharia does NOT punish the rape victum; it only punishes the rapist.
At times a positive aspect of Sharia is twisted to give a wrong impression. For instance, Qur'an says in Chapter 24 Verse 4 that if anybody accuses a chaste woman of adultery, then the accuser should bring four witnesses to prove his charge otherwise the accuser would recieve 80 lashes. So in short, it protects chaste women against false charges. But sceptics have twisted to say that a rape victum has to bring 4 witnesses to prove rape, which is non-sense because only the victum's testimony and a medical report proving rape are enough to prove rape in Sharia Law.
If difference of opinion occurs about a certain Islamic law, who decides about its authenticity and application?
A legislative committee of Islamic law experts sits down and decides about the authenticity and application of that law in the guidance of Qur'an and the authentic sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophet. If these two sources lack any instructions regarding that law, the committee looks at the lives of the first three Muslim generations for reference and guidance.
The Islamic Sharia punishments are Severe
I agree, the punishments in Islamic Sharia are in fact severe. But that is the point. The moment you say Sharia is imposed majority of the criminals would stop committing crimes fearing the severity of the punishments. The mere thought of recieving such punishments would discourage any potential future criminal. Only a few criminals would still commit crimes and punishing these few criminals would let millions live in peace.
All religions basically exhort mankind to be righteous and eschew evil. But Islam goes beyond that. It guides us towards practical ways of achieving righteousness and eliminating evil from our individual and collective lives. Islam takes into account human nature and the complexities of human society. Islam is guidance from the Creator Himself. Therefore, Islam is also called the Deenul-Fitrah (the natural religion of Man).
U.S.A has one of the highest rate of Rape
According to a F.B.I report, an average of 1756 cases rapes were committed in USA everyday. This number soon increased to 1900. According to the US Department of Justice in the year 1996 an average of 2713 rape cases were committed Every Single Day. In short, in the year 1996 Every 32 seconds one rape was taking place in America. The F.B.I report of 1990 also said that only 1.6% were ever arrested and only half of them 0.8 ever faced a trial. Many would consider this a good gamble. And the report says that of those people who faced trial 50% received sentences of less than a year’s imprisonment though the American law says rape carries a seven year sentence of imprisonment. For a rapist, the judge is lenient to first time offenders. Imagine a person commits 125 rapes and the chances of being convicted is only once, and 50% of the time the judge will grant leniency and give a sentence of less than a year!
The Islamic Solution
Suppose the Islamic shariah is implemented in America. Whenever a man looks at a woman and if any brazen or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he lowers his gaze. Every woman wears the Islamic Hijab, that is the complete body is covered except the face and the hands upto the wrists. After this if any man commits rape, he gets capital punishment. The question is, will the rate of rape in America increase, will it remain the same or will it decrease? Naturally it will decrease. Islamic Shariah gets results.
Despite its advancements America also has one of the highest rate of crime, theft, and robbery. Suppose the Islamic shariah is implemented in America i.e. every rich person gives Zakat ( 2.5% of his savings in charity above 85 grams of gold every lunar year), which would be spent on the poor (if every rich person in the world starts paying this, poverty will be eradicated and NOT a single person would die of hunger) and every convicted robber has his or her hands chopped off as a punishment. Will the rate of theft and robbery in America increase, remain same or decrease? Naturally it will decrease. Moreover the existence of such a stringent law would discourage many a potential robber.
I agree that the amount of theft that takes place in the world today is so tremendous that if you chop off the hands of all the thieves, there will be tens of thousands of people whose hands will be chopped off. The point here is that the moment you implement this law the rate of theft will decline immediately. The potential robber would give it a serious thought before
jeopardizing his limbs. The mere thought of the punishment itself will discourage majority of the robbers. There will barely be a few who would rob. Hence only a few person’s hands would be chopped off but millions would live peacefully without fear of being robbed.
Islamic Shariah is therefore practical, and achieves results.
Witnesses in Sharia Law
In modern law people may give false witness and get a light punishment or even escape without any punishment. This encourages bearers of witness. In Sharia if anyone bears false witness and falters in cross examination, he would recieve 80 lashes. The mere thought of 80 lashes would discourage anyone from bearing false witness.
Non-Muslims Under Sharia Law
Islamic Sharia grants Non-Muslims the freedom to freely practice their religion and makes it obligatory on the Islamic Gov't to protect their places of worship. Islamic Sharia even prohibits using bad language about their gods. As Qur'an says in Sura al Anaam Chapter 6 Verse 108 "Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance." Sceptics may ask that why Non-Muslims have to pay poll tax (Jizya)? In every country the citizens pay tax. Likewise in an Islamic country all citizens pay tax. The tax paid by Muslims is called Zakat, while the tax paid by Non-Muslims is called Jizya (poll tax). The Muslims have to pay tax and also do compulsory military service, while the Non-Muslims only have to pay tax and do NOT have to do any compulsory military service. So the Muslims should complain NOT the Non-Muslims.
Women under Sharia Law
To know about women in Sharia, read the posts
Women's Rights in Islam
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Women in Islam
You may ask, if Sharia is so effective and full proof then why crimes are committed in the Muslim countries? The answer is that there is NOT a single 100% Islamic country. Muslim countries follow some Islamic principals and do NOT follow the others. Like Malaysia only follows the Islamic Economic System and Saudi Arabia only follows the Islamic Criminal law. (Please note that punishing female drivers is not an Islamic Law.)
The most misunderstood fundamental of Islam is Jihad, which I have already discussed.
Misconceptions About Sharia
People misconcieve Sharia to a sort of mob-justice, which anyone can carry out, which is a myth. Sharia is a complete system of Law and can only be carried out by a court of Law.
Often laws are attributed to Sharia, which really are NOT a part of it. For example, a widespread misconception about Sharia Law is that it punishes the rape Victum and encourages Honor killing. But in fact Sharia does NOT punish the rape victum; it only punishes the rapist.
At times a positive aspect of Sharia is twisted to give a wrong impression. For instance, Qur'an says in Chapter 24 Verse 4 that if anybody accuses a chaste woman of adultery, then the accuser should bring four witnesses to prove his charge otherwise the accuser would recieve 80 lashes. So in short, it protects chaste women against false charges. But sceptics have twisted to say that a rape victum has to bring 4 witnesses to prove rape, which is non-sense because only the victum's testimony and a medical report proving rape are enough to prove rape in Sharia Law.
If difference of opinion occurs about a certain Islamic law, who decides about its authenticity and application?
A legislative committee of Islamic law experts sits down and decides about the authenticity and application of that law in the guidance of Qur'an and the authentic sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophet. If these two sources lack any instructions regarding that law, the committee looks at the lives of the first three Muslim generations for reference and guidance.
The Islamic Sharia punishments are Severe
I agree, the punishments in Islamic Sharia are in fact severe. But that is the point. The moment you say Sharia is imposed majority of the criminals would stop committing crimes fearing the severity of the punishments. The mere thought of recieving such punishments would discourage any potential future criminal. Only a few criminals would still commit crimes and punishing these few criminals would let millions live in peace.
All religions basically exhort mankind to be righteous and eschew evil. But Islam goes beyond that. It guides us towards practical ways of achieving righteousness and eliminating evil from our individual and collective lives. Islam takes into account human nature and the complexities of human society. Islam is guidance from the Creator Himself. Therefore, Islam is also called the Deenul-Fitrah (the natural religion of Man).
U.S.A has one of the highest rate of Rape
According to a F.B.I report, an average of 1756 cases rapes were committed in USA everyday. This number soon increased to 1900. According to the US Department of Justice in the year 1996 an average of 2713 rape cases were committed Every Single Day. In short, in the year 1996 Every 32 seconds one rape was taking place in America. The F.B.I report of 1990 also said that only 1.6% were ever arrested and only half of them 0.8 ever faced a trial. Many would consider this a good gamble. And the report says that of those people who faced trial 50% received sentences of less than a year’s imprisonment though the American law says rape carries a seven year sentence of imprisonment. For a rapist, the judge is lenient to first time offenders. Imagine a person commits 125 rapes and the chances of being convicted is only once, and 50% of the time the judge will grant leniency and give a sentence of less than a year!
The Islamic Solution
Suppose the Islamic shariah is implemented in America. Whenever a man looks at a woman and if any brazen or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he lowers his gaze. Every woman wears the Islamic Hijab, that is the complete body is covered except the face and the hands upto the wrists. After this if any man commits rape, he gets capital punishment. The question is, will the rate of rape in America increase, will it remain the same or will it decrease? Naturally it will decrease. Islamic Shariah gets results.
Despite its advancements America also has one of the highest rate of crime, theft, and robbery. Suppose the Islamic shariah is implemented in America i.e. every rich person gives Zakat ( 2.5% of his savings in charity above 85 grams of gold every lunar year), which would be spent on the poor (if every rich person in the world starts paying this, poverty will be eradicated and NOT a single person would die of hunger) and every convicted robber has his or her hands chopped off as a punishment. Will the rate of theft and robbery in America increase, remain same or decrease? Naturally it will decrease. Moreover the existence of such a stringent law would discourage many a potential robber.
I agree that the amount of theft that takes place in the world today is so tremendous that if you chop off the hands of all the thieves, there will be tens of thousands of people whose hands will be chopped off. The point here is that the moment you implement this law the rate of theft will decline immediately. The potential robber would give it a serious thought before
jeopardizing his limbs. The mere thought of the punishment itself will discourage majority of the robbers. There will barely be a few who would rob. Hence only a few person’s hands would be chopped off but millions would live peacefully without fear of being robbed.
Islamic Shariah is therefore practical, and achieves results.
Witnesses in Sharia Law
In modern law people may give false witness and get a light punishment or even escape without any punishment. This encourages bearers of witness. In Sharia if anyone bears false witness and falters in cross examination, he would recieve 80 lashes. The mere thought of 80 lashes would discourage anyone from bearing false witness.
Non-Muslims Under Sharia Law
Islamic Sharia grants Non-Muslims the freedom to freely practice their religion and makes it obligatory on the Islamic Gov't to protect their places of worship. Islamic Sharia even prohibits using bad language about their gods. As Qur'an says in Sura al Anaam Chapter 6 Verse 108 "Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance." Sceptics may ask that why Non-Muslims have to pay poll tax (Jizya)? In every country the citizens pay tax. Likewise in an Islamic country all citizens pay tax. The tax paid by Muslims is called Zakat, while the tax paid by Non-Muslims is called Jizya (poll tax). The Muslims have to pay tax and also do compulsory military service, while the Non-Muslims only have to pay tax and do NOT have to do any compulsory military service. So the Muslims should complain NOT the Non-Muslims.
Women under Sharia Law
To know about women in Sharia, read the posts
Women's Rights in Islam
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Women in Islam
You may ask, if Sharia is so effective and full proof then why crimes are committed in the Muslim countries? The answer is that there is NOT a single 100% Islamic country. Muslim countries follow some Islamic principals and do NOT follow the others. Like Malaysia only follows the Islamic Economic System and Saudi Arabia only follows the Islamic Criminal law. (Please note that punishing female drivers is not an Islamic Law.)
The most misunderstood fundamental of Islam is Jihad, which I have already discussed.
