Sharia law.

Roger Algase
New York , NY
December 7th, 2010
11:13 am
I am a non-Muslim who researched and published an article on Islamic law many years ago, even though I cannot claim to be a specialist in this field. There are some aspects of Islamic law that are remarkably humane and progressive for their time, or even for ours, and others that are stuck in medieval backwardness, or even barbarity. But take a look at the laws in most Christian countries during the Middle Ages, or, going back further, in Israel during Biblical times. How many people today would want to live under those systems, even in Oklahoma?

It is also worthy of note that some western banks or investors, including, very possibly, some US based ones (though I am not sure about this) are entering into highly sophisticated "Sharia compliant" financial transactions, especially ones that avoid direct interest charges, in order to expand their business in Muslim countries. I also understand that some US food companies may be starting to produce "halal" foods complying with Muslim dietary laws, just as almost every supermarket in New York now carries staples that are now labeled as being kosher. Those of us who live or work in Manhattan are used to seeing halal food stands on almost every midtown street corner. Will all of this be banned in Oklahoma? Will people one day go to jail in that state for depositing money in American banks that may be investing in Sharia compliant financial products overseas, or for selling halal food?

It appears that the great majority of the people of Oklahoma, or at least their politicians, have no interest in learning about what the pros and cons of Sharia law really are. They know nothing (or should I say "Know Nothing"?) about the great contributions that Islamic art, philosophy, and scholarship made to the civilization of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, as well as to world civilization. They do not care, for example, that the Muslim prohibition against paying interest was shared for centuries by both the Jewish and Christian legal systems, or that these systems have many other parallels with Sharia law. Beyond that, they have no knowledge of or interest in learning about the common background and close relationship between Islam and the other two great monotheistic, or "Abrahamic" religions, Judaism and Christianity.

When hate rules supreme, there is no interest in learning the truth about the people one wants to persecute, their culture, or their contribution to our common humanity. The people who foisted this cruel and absurd Oklahoma law on an ignorant and prejudiced public do not care about who the small handful of Muslims among them really are, or what they really believe, any more than the people who passed Arizona's draconian immigration law, which seeks to drive all Mexicans out of their state, are interested in learning about the glories of Maya or Aztec civilization. How much interest was there in learning the truth about Jewish culture and civilization on the part of those who instituted the Nuremberg laws?

The Islamophobic Oklahoma law is a disgrace to America and a direct threat to the freedom and dignity of all of us. It should be vigorously opposed by every American, regardless of religious affiliation (or lack of it), just as the threat by a minister in Florida to burn copies of the Koran in his church was finally stopped when responsible leaders stepped in to speak out against it. Roger Cohen has done all of us a great service by writing this article. We ignore its warning at our peril.
Recommended Recommended by 105 Readers

These comments are taken from NYTimes, article by Mr. Roger Cohen.
Source: http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/opinion/07iht-edcohen.html

Comments

How to Oppose Annexation Without Actually Opposing It: The Trump Doctrine of Elegant Hypocrisy

The Art of Saying No While Handing Over the Keys: Trump’s De Facto Annexation Gift to Israel Ah yes — the era of “ principled diplomacy.” The Trump administration, that self-proclaimed guardian of “fairness” in the Middle East, will forever be remembered for its masterclass in political double-speak — a rare performance where the United States verbally opposed Israel’s annexation of the West Bank while physically laying down the red carpet for it. It’s like saying, “ Please, don’t steal the car,” while quietly tossing over the keys, disabling the alarm, and complimenting the thief’s driving skills. The Great Paradox — or Just the Great Performance? Let’s call it what it was: a paradox of diplomacy , or perhaps more accurately , a farce performed for global consumption . In words , the Trump administration urged restraint — telling Netanyahu that annexation should be “coordinated,” “negotiated,” and “timed wisely.” In reality , it was busy dismantling every legal and dip...

The World as Gaza: Necropolitics and the Calculus of Survival

“ The ultimate expression of sovereignty resides in the power and the capacity to dictate who may live and who must die.” — Achille Mbembe, “Necropolitics” There are philosophies that dissect history, and there are philosophies that bleed through it. Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics belongs to the latter — it is not an academic exercise, but a diagnosis of the world’s moral decay. In his words, modern sovereignty is no longer about governing life — it is about managing death . It decides who is allowed to breathe, who must suffocate, and who will exist in the space between. Nowhere is this calculus of death more visible, more technologically refined, and more ethically bankrupt than in Palestine . The siege of Gaza has transformed necropolitics from theory into geography — a place where the architecture of control and the arithmetic of survival intersect. The Right to Kill, the Duty to Let Die In Necropolitics , Mbembe extends Foucault’s biopower — the power to “...

The Leak That Broke the Mirror: Israel’s Moral Collapse at Sde Teiman

n R It was not the torture that shocked Israel. It was the fact that someone leaked it. Welcome to Sde Teiman — the desert detention camp that became a mirror to Israel’s moral decay, and to the world’s selective blindness. The Scene of the Crime The story begins, like most horror stories do these days, with a camera. On July 5, 2024, security footage inside the Sde Teiman military base caught what it was never meant to record: a Palestinian prisoner, blindfolded, bound, and dragged across the floor by Israeli soldiers. Moments later, the soldiers raised shields to block the camera — and behind that human wall, the real Israel revealed itself. When the shields dropped , the man lay broken: seven fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a torn rectum so severe it required surgery and a colostomy. The anatomy of cruelty was complete. The Scandal That Wasn’t You would think such a crime would set off national outrage. But in Israel’s political universe , torture is an...

The Science of Fear: How Islamophobia Became a Campaign Strategy

When Zohran Mamdani stood before a roaring crowd and declared, “ No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election,” he wasn’t just celebrating victory — he was delivering a eulogy for a long, poisonous political playbook. Because let’s face it — Islamophobia has never just been about prejudice. It’s been a strategy — polished, funded, and weaponized into one of the most successful vote-getting formulas in modern politics. The Machinery of Fear The arithmetic is simple — and sinister . Take a minority that makes up barely 2% of the U.S. population . Turn them into the symbolic threat for the other 98%. Feed that fear with millions of dollars , wrap it in the flag , and sell it as “security. ” According to a 2021 CAIR report , more than $105 million was funneled to just 26 anti-Muslim organizations between 2017 and 2019 — money laundered through “ mainstream charitable ” institutions. That’s not democracy in action. That’...

🕯️ Rabin’s Ghost Still Waits for an Israel That Never Came

Thirty years ago, Yitzhak Rabin stood before a crowd in Tel Aviv and spoke of peace — weary, pragmatic, unsentimental peace. Minutes later, the man who saw peace as security, not surrender , was shot by one who saw God as a weapon . That was the night the State of Israel shot itself in the heart and called it “defense.” Rabin’s Israel was a nation wrestling with its conscience. He believed in strength, but not sanctified violence ; in separation, not supremacy . His realism was unsparing — he trusted no one, least of Al Arafat — yet he understood that endless occupation would rot Israel from within . “Security,” for Rabin, meant protecting Israel’s soul as much as its borders . Then came Netanyahu — the anti-Rabin in every sense . Where Rabin saw security as a path to coexistence , Netanyahu redefined it as perpetual siege. Where Rabin’s integrity made him resign over a forgotten bank account , Netanyahu’s corruption became a leadership credential . Rabin stood on a pla...

Ainnbeen

Search This Blog