Islamic Law, known as "Shariah"
The historical pattern of Islam shows us that when a nation gains a sufficiently large Muslim population, they will begin to agitate for Shariah to be implemented. Shariah is the primary source of persecution for Christians in Muslim dominated states.

Obviously, the Prophet's intention was that the community should be a single community and the Shari'a its common rule of life. After his death, however, party strife broke out under his successors, the caliphs, three out of the first four of whom died by violence. Under the fourth caliph, `All, the Prophet's cousin and husband of his daughter Fatima, the community was torn in two. The legitimists, who held that the succession should remain in the Prophet's family and that 'Ali should have been the first caliph, have developed into the Shi'a sects, which are still a minority group in Islam. The great mass of Muslims, however, form the Sunni sect, ruled over at first by the caliphs of the Umayyad Dynasty reigning in Damascus, and then by the 'Abbasid Dynasty reigning in Baghdad, until the caliphate was taken over by the Turks. (Islam: Muhammad and His Religion, Arthur Jeffery, 1958, p xi-xiv)

The historical pattern of Islam shows us that when a nation gains a sufficiently large Muslim population, they will begin to agitate for Shariah to be implemented. Shariah is the system of civil law that is based upon the Qur'an and the Ahadith and the work of Muslim scholars in the first two centuries of Islam. Shariah extends beyond just civil law. Applied fully, the Shariah is a code for living that Muslims should adhere to, including prayers, fasting and donations to the poor. Shariah is the totality of religious, political, social, domestic and private life. Shariah is primarily meant for all Muslims, but applies to a certain extent also for people living inside a Muslim society.

Muslims feel that Shariah has been misunderstood by Christians, who have tended to concentrate on the demands for harsh punishments such as amputation of a hand or foot for theft and public flogging for people caught drinking alcohol.

Under the Shariah laws in Afghanistan, the Taliban's religious police, formally known as the Department for Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, enforce the Shariah laws.

For example, a man's beard must be long enough to protrude from a fist clenched at the base of the chin. If it is not, he is subject to punishment.

Under Shariah in Afghanistan, women are not allowed to work in any field except the medical sector. The Islamic law of Afghanistan does not allow the employment of women in government departments or international agencies. Women should not go outside their residences with the exception of those working in the medical sector.

Shariah also places restrictions on what women can wear and whom they can see. It forbids women from wearing jewelry and make-up and from making noise with their shoes when they walk. If a woman does work outside the home, she is forbidden to sit beside the driver when traveling to and from work. Stylish dress and decoration of women is forbidden.

There have been reported cases of the beating female doctors and female medical staff at the hospitals where they worked.

The instituting of a national law that incorporates both civil and spiritual laws is one of the principles that makes it difficult for Americans to understand Islamic nations. It is even more difficult for the people in those Islamic nations to understand a government that does not enforce morality as well as civil law. Since they do not understand the principle of the separation of the government from the religion, when people in Islamic nations see Western nation's magazines with nudity or near nudity, they believe that what they are seeing is Christianity! After all, they are told that the United States is a Christian nation. When they see a satellite program that originates from Playboy, they think that is Christianity! When they see a television commercial for any kind of alcoholic beverage, they think that is Christianity! They do not understand the separation of government and religion. They cannot understand why those who produce such materials are not punished by the government.

Muslims believe that Shariah is not something the intelligence of man can prove wrong, it is only to be accepted by humans, since it is based on the will of Allah. Muslims see their religion and government being ordained by Allah. It is their conviction that Islam is intended to be the religion of all mankind. It is to be the universal religion to replace Judaism, Christianity, and all others. While Muslims may deny it, they are willing to replace other religions first by conversion, then suppression and even armed conflict. In the Philippines, there is a growing Muslim population that is agitating for the institution of Islamic law. They have not hesitated to use violence to try to implement their beliefs.

Muslims claim that there is freedom of religion under Shariah. When Islam gains a strong representation in the population, they want to impose Shariah on everyone, since they believe that it is the only law that comes directly from Allah.

• Nigeria, January 22, 1999, Sheikh Muhammad Mansur-al-Mansur, leader of the Islamic Democratic Progressive Party, said the government should adopt the provisions of the Koran as the constitution for Nigeria. He said the Koran is "the only divine constitution made by the Creator Himself." Dr. Muhammed Tabiu... said, however, that there was need for a stronger reinforcement of the Islamic law in the constitution.
• Saudi Arabia, April 24, 1998, According to Amnesty International's "Behind Closed Doors" report on Saudi Arabia released in November 1997, "... the inhabitants of Saudi Arabia remain denied the most basic human rights, while the government spares no effort to conceal its appalling human rights record from public scrutiny." The report noted that Saudi's religious police, the Mutawa'een, are "invested with the authority to arrest and detain, particularly with regard to Christian worshippers."
• Saudi Arabia July 17, 1998, Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic law, observance of any religious worship other than Islam is illegal and Christians can be arrested for either distributing Christian materials or attending private meetings for Christian worship.
• Jakarta, February 19, 1999, Jakarta branch chairman, Ahmad Heryawan states, "Indonesian law is man-made, Islamic law comes from Allah."
• Indonesia, June 18, 1999, Islamic extremists want to impose "sharia" (Islamic law) on the majority Muslim population, changing Indonesia's status as a secular state. The current constitution binds the government to religious neutrality.
• Chechnya, June 18, 1999, Chechnya has been declared an Islamic state by a decree signed into law on February 3. However, President Aslan Mashkadov has repudiated identification of his regime with Islamic extremism, defining "sharia" (Islamic law) as simply "the normal way of conduct for every Muslim."
• Indonesia, June 18, 1999, Outwardly tolerant, with a constitution that mandates religious freedom for members of five accepted religions -- Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and indigenous religion. Extremist Muslims have chafed at their numerical superiority offering them no legal privileges, though in practice their overwhelming numbers often result in discrimination against Christians. Militant Muslims continue to agitate for "sharia"
• Iraq, June 15, 2001, Despite Iraq's secularized government, apostasy from Islam remains a criminal violation of Islamic "sharia" law, ultimately requiring the death penalty. Officially a secular state, Iraq legally protects the freedom of its Christian minority to worship "in churches of established denominations," although the law forbids them to "proselytize or hold meetings outside church premises."
• Nigeria , June 15, 2001, Katsina state, with a population of more than 3.7 million people, became an Islamic state on August 1, 2000, when the state government adopted "sharia," the Islamic legal system. Church leaders have been told to relocate to a designated "Christian zone. Of the 41 churches in Katsina city, 38 have been ordered to relocate.
• Nigeria, August 24, 2001, Bauchi Governor Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Muazu declared on June 1 that Islamic (sharia) law applied to all persons in the state, not Muslims only. On June 4, Muazu assigned an Islamic court judge to Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas to enforce Islamic law in the predominantly Christian villages.
• Afghanistan, August 24, 2001, "Seven months ago, Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar declared over Radio Shariat that the death penalty would be imposed on any Afghan who converted to Christianity or Judaism, and that "any non-Muslim found trying to win converts will also be killed." A senior spokesman for the regime elaborated on the January 8 edict, alleging that "certain foreigners" in the country were trying secretly to convert Afghans to Christianity."
• "The Taliban's so-called religious police arrested two young women on August 3, reportedly "caught red-handed" after showing a film about Christianity to an Afghan family, the Taliban said."

Islam places a great emphasis on the religion being the government. This is a strong contrast to the teachings of the New Testament.

By Ney Rieber  

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