Key Tenets of Sharia

I believe that the most vulnerable aspect of the Islamist ideology is Sharia Law.  Any rational person would conclude that Sharia Law is racist, sexist, and discriminates on the basis of religion.  These are no-no's in the 21st Century.  If Sharia Law can be condemned on rational grounds, it throws in to question the entire Islamic ideology.  You can't have one without the other.  Notice how apologists for Islam always try to parce words when it comes to Sharia Law.  They say, "Well, there are different interpretations of Sharia Law, and we don't agree with what you just quoted."  No, there is one standard and it is reflected in "'Umdat al-Salik" ("The Reliance of the Traveller") by al-Misri (died 1368)  which has been around since the Middle Ages. The English translation has been approved by Al-Ahzar University in Cairo.  It doesn't get any more authentic than that.

Key Tenets of Sharia

The following are some of the most important—and, particularly for Western non-Muslims, deeply problematic—tenets of sharia, arranged in alphabetical order. The citations for these findings are drawn from the Koran, schools of Islam and other recognized sources are offered as illustrative examples of the basis for such practices under sharia.

1. Abrogation (‘Al-mansukh wa al-nasikh’ in Arabic—the abrogated and the abrogating): Verses that come later in the Koran, chronologically, supersede, or abrogate, the earlier ones. In effect, this results in the more moderate verses of the Meccan period being abrogated by the later, violent, Medinan period.

2. Adultery (‘Zina’ in Arabic): Unlawful intercourse is a capital crime under sharia, punishable by lashing and stoning to death.

3. Apostasy (‘Irtidad’ or ‘Ridda’ in Arabic): The established ruling of sharia is that apostates are to be killed wherever they may be found.

4. Democracy & Islam: Any system of man-made law is considered illicit under Islamic law, for whose adherents Allah already has provided the only law permitted, sharia. Islam and democracy can never co-exist in harmony.

5. Female Genital Mutilation.

6. Gender Inequality: Sharia explicitly relegates women to a status inferior to men.

• Testimony of a woman before a judge is worth half that of a man.

• Women are to receive just one half the inheritance of a male.

• Muslim men are given permission by Allah in the Koran to beat their wives.

• Muslim men are given permission by Allah to commit marital rape, as they please.

• Muslim men are permitted to marry up to four wives and to keep concubines in any number.

• Muslim women may marry only one Muslim man and are forbidden from marrying a non-Muslim.

• A woman may not travel outside the home without the permission of her male guardian and must be accompanied by a male family member if she does so.

• Under sharia, to bring a claim of rape, a Muslim woman must present four male Muslim witnesses in good standing. Islam thus places the burden of avoiding illicit sexual encounters entirely on the woman. In effect, under sharia, women who bring a claim of rape without being able to produce the requisite four male Muslim witnesses are admitting to having had illicit sex. If she or the man is married, this amounts to an admission of adultery.

Rape is a felony under U.S. law, but under Sharia Law it is not. It is akin to damaging something (the woman’s virginity), so the penalty is the usual cost of what was damaged – typically, $400 and up.  There would be  no jail time for rape, unless the man didn’t pay for the damages.

• A Muslim woman who divorces and remarries loses custody of children from a prior marriage.

7. ‘Honor’ Killing (a.k.a. Muslim family executions): A Muslim parent faces no legal penalty under Islamic law for killing his child or grandchild.

8. Hudud Punishments: The plural of hadd, is “a fixed penalty prescribed as a right of Allah. Because hudud penalties belong to Allah, Islamic law does not permit them to be waived or commuted."

• “Sharia stipulates these punishments and methods of execution such as amputation, crucifixion, flogging, and stoning, for offenses such as adultery, homosexuality, killing without right, theft, and ‘spreading mischief in the land’ because these punishments were mandated by the Qur’an or Sunnah.” (Islamic Hudood Laws in Pakistan, Edn 1996, 5.)

9. Islamic Supremacism: belief that Islam is superior to every other culture, faith, government, and society and that it is ordained by Allah to conquer and dominate them.

10. Jew Hatred: Anti-Semitism is intrinsic to sharia and is based on the genocidal behavior of Mohammed himself in wiping out the entire Jewish population of the Arabian Peninsula.

11. Jihad: Jihad is warfare to spread Islam.

12. Lying/Taqiyya: It is permissible for a Muslim to lie, especially to non-Muslims, to safeguard himself personally or to protect Islam.

13. Slander/Blasphemy: In sharia, slander means anything that might offend a Muslim.

14. Underage Marriage: Islamic doctrine permits the marriage of pre-pubescent girls. There is no minimum age for a marriage contract and consummation may take place when the girl is age eight or nine.

15. Zakat: the obligation for Muslims to pay zakat arises out of Koran Verse 9:60 and is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat may be given only to Muslims, never to non-Muslims. What amounts to a mandatory tax is required to be given to those engaged in jihad which is among the authorized recipients.

• According to sharia, there are eight categories of recipients for Zakat: The poor; Those short of money; Zakat workers (those whose job it is to collect the zakat); Those whose hearts are to be reconciled; Those purchasing their freedom; Those in debt; Those fighting for Allah (Jihad); Travelers needing money (‘Umdat al-Salik, h8.7-h8.18)

• “It is not permissible to give Zakat to a non-Muslim.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, h8.24)