(Note that Dr. Tawfik Hamid is an Egyptian American who was involved in "radical" Islam in Egypt but who has since renounced that path. He remains a devoted Muslim - and a good friend of Freethought Nation. His work here is reproduced by permission.)
Fighting Sharia Law MUST be a Strategic Objective for the US
by Tawfik Hamid
www.tawfikhamid.com
Some see Sharia Law (Islamic Law) as a threat to human rights, discriminating specifically against women, gays and non-Muslims. This limited understanding of sharia may lead to a half-hearted response rather than a serious fight for the United State's strategic interests. It is, however, difficult for an honest person to deny the fact that sharia law is a threat to human rights; for, the real threat of sharia goes far beyond infringements of human rights.
"It is difficult for an honest person to deny the fact that sharia law is a threat to human rights."
Sharia law has been the main topic for discussion in several debates in the U.S. and other Western countries. Careful observation of our modern history reveals that the U.S. has had major troubles from all Muslim countries or systems that have implemented sharia law.
The following is a list of Islamic countries and societies that have implemented sharia law as the main law of the land:
- Saudi Arabia
- Iran
- Afghanistan under the Taliban regime
- Sudan
- Somalia
Without a single exception, the U.S. has suffered major troubles from all of these countries.
For example, Saudi Arabia produced Bin Laden who led Al-Qaeda and attacked the U.S. on September 11, 2001 which dragged the U.S. into very costly confrontations. These confrontations have cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. In fact, 15 of the 19 hijackers of the planes that attacked the twin towers on September 11 were Saudis. Moreover, petrodollars coming out of sharia-ruled Saudi Arabia have been used to support Islamists in Egypt and other Islamic countries thus promoting more Islamic-based hatred and animosity toward the U.S.
Another example of the outworking of sharia is the Iranian Islamic regime, which has shown aggression toward the U.S. and currently aims at creating a nuclear bomb that threatens world stability and security. The relationship between the U.S. and Iran declined dramatically after the Iran regime adopted sharia law following the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Afghanistan under sharia law created a system extremely hostile toward the West, including the U.S. The sharia-ruled Taliban adopted Al-Qaeda fighters and caused - and is still causing - major troubles for the U.S. In fact, the Islamist threat that originated in Afghanistan has also affected nearby countries such as Pakistan. The honeymoon that existed temporarily between the U.S. and the Taliban during the confrontation with the Russians has ended, and the true nature of the Taliban as an anti-American regimen has been exposed.
Furthermore, the relations between Sudan and the U.S. have significantly declined after the implementation of sharia in the country.
Somalia has shown animosity toward the U.S. and has become a breeding ground for terrorists since it became controlled by the Al-Shabbab Islamic movement that implemented sharia law in the land. Several U.S. Muslim citizens also became radicalized in Somalia after sharia dominated it.
If we compare the above countries to Islamic countries that did not make sharia law the main law of the land - such as Turkey, Qatar, UAE, Tunisia, Malaysia and Indonesia - we notice that the former countries did not cause as much trouble for the U.S. as the sharia-ruled countries did. This correlation is unlikely to be just a coincidence.
"Sharia allows beating women, polygamy and paedophilia. Additionally, it promotes killing apostates, gays and adulterers."
Sharia causes animosity toward the U.S. (as a symbol of the highest power of Western civilization) in several ways as we see below:
- Sharia law creates hatred toward the values of freedom and equality that are the founding principles of the U.S. For example, sharia allows beating women, polygamy and paedophilia. Additionally, it promotes killing apostates, gays and adulterers. Islamists who adopt these sharia values cannot have anything but hatred toward the countries that promotes freedom and liberty.
- Sharia induces a notion of the supremacy of Islam above all non-Muslims. Several Quranic verses have been used to promote this principle of supremacy of Muslims and Islam (See Quran 48:28). Also, Sharia rules necessitate that Non-Muslims in Muslim society MUST pay a special form of Tax of humiliation jizya to the Muslim rulers. Non-Muslims, according to sharia, MUST by disgraced during paying such taxes. The psychological contradiction in the mind of Islamists between their sense of the supremacy of Islam, and the reality of their weakness and inferiority, creates frustrations that lead to a desire to destroy or erase the world power (i.e., the U.S. and other western countries) that "deprives" them of their superiority.
- Sharia principles teach the values of Jihad to spread the religion and subjugate non-Muslims to Islamic laws. With no single exception, all schools of Islamic Jurisprudence (Shafeii, Hanbali, Maleki and Hanafi) to this day promote that Muslims MUST declare war on and fight Non-Muslims until they are subjugated to Islam.
"All schools of Islamic Jurisprudence promote that Muslims MUST declare war on and fight Non-Muslims until they are subjugated to Islam."
The integration of the previous three factors can explain to some extent the observed positive correlation between implementing sharia and creating hostility toward the U.S. and other Western countries.
To conclude: The trouble that has faced the United States from countries that adopted sharia law in the last few decades, and the enormous costs that were paid by the U.S. in these confrontations, should make the U.S. consider sharia not only an infringement to human rights but, more importantly, a serious threat to its national security and strategic interests.
Further Reading
Islamic law prescribes death for apostates and gays, promotes pedophilia and wife beating, must be banned
Dr. Tawfik Hamid's articles collection on FTN
(Note from Acharya S: I am aware that many of my readers are skeptical of the mainstream depiction of 9/11. While we can hash out that argument politely and civilly on this article, please do not make personal remarks about the author, Tawfik Hamid, or about me. The fact is that many Muslims - likely millions - are happily claiming 9/11 as a victory for Islam, and we must deal with that mentality on its face. The fact is that the Saudis are spreading their harsh and oppressive form of Islam all over the world and have evidently been behind many incursions of "radical" (devout) Sunni Islam in numerous countries.)
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|2012-04-19 21:45:36 Pray Hard - One bite at a time ...On more and more sites and comments, I see that more people are listening and waking up to the truth, the reality, the actuality of this threat. Although many or most still seem able to do little more than spout the typical dhimmi party line, a few are coming to grips with what is happening. Some are only asking questions ... "Why hasn't the trial of Nidal Hasan started?", "Do they really hang gay men?", "Why do they throw acid on little school girls?", "Why do they beat their wives?", "Why do they kill their daughters?". We must answer those questions truthfully. And, when they blame it on America, Israel and or the West, I ask them whose fault it was before the US and or Israel existed? We must gently force them to ask themselves how far back they can follow that regression before they come to the obvious conclusion. For every one of their lies, we have to tell the truth ten times or a hundred times or a thousand times. And, we have to capture those short lived articles that do expose the truth in the lamestream media and post them before they disappear into the Googlesphere and are gone forever to the casual reader. And, contrary to some popular opinion, we have to work on waking up Lefties AND Righties and In The Middle'ees. Any deal with Islam is a losing deal. Think of your children, your grand children, your great grandchildren. Keep writing.
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|2012-04-19 22:30:42 Acharya SI'm glad to hear that, since I was being beaten on half the day on Facebook for posting "Muslim bashing," which, of course, I don't do.
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|2012-04-20 22:01:15 Pray Hard - MSN & Yahoo ...I see many more waking up on comments on Yahoo stories about Islam and its insanity/atrocities. I see far fewer on MSN, but a few are showing up. I think the "community" collapses my comments on MSN many times, but I really don't care. I'm sure some people read them before they're collapsed. I find it rather amazing that people who proclaim to believe in free speech even consider collapsing comments they don't like on an open public forum. But, hey, those are our poor little angst-ridden leftie friends. I'm also always amazed that the polarization of view points has become so outrageous that both sides simply ignore facts that conflict with their party lines. I feel that living in this fantasy world of ignoring facts is what is most dangerous because it means we're surfing along in delusion and that's when we're most vulnerable to attacks whether they be intellectual, emotional or physical. I think absolute clear mindedness based on truth is the only answer to this problem. The dhimmis and pc/mc monkeys seem to follow all of the anti-Islamist sites proclaiming them to be lying racists, so, A, you're in good company.
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|2012-04-20 09:39:03 PositronThere are several errors in this article and is nothing other than scaremongering. Firstly it’s not Sharia Law but simply Sharia or Islamic Law, Sharia means law in Arabic. Secondly many aspects of Sharia do not apply to non-Muslims. Regarding the Jizyah, all Muslims are required (as one of the five pillars of Islam) to pay an alms tax which was at times also collected by the state. Most people are unaware of the fact that the CIA removed a democratic regime in Iran in the 1950s and instituted a monarchy which is the real reason Iranian ‘hates’ America.
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|2012-04-20 20:46:25 Acharya SThank you. I have asked Dr. Hamid to respond to your comment, but I will say this much:
The Iranian Regime hates America - but they were put into place ALSO by Jimmy Carter, I'm told. The Islamic Republic of Iran has no reason whatsoever to hate America for helping these fanatics overthrow the shah. The Iranian regime hates because that mentality is part of their Shiite interpretation of Islam.
The Iranian PEOPLE do not at all hate America. On the contrary, millions live in the U.S. and Canada - and they love it. What they do hate, however, is the Shiite Islamic fanaticism that has destroyed and enslaved their people their country.
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|2012-04-20 18:33:27 Tawfik Hamid(Here are responses provided by Dr. Hamid)
1- I used one of the expressions that are used by westerners....Please see how the BBC expressed the words Sharia law in the following Link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16496002
This is not a serious point as westerners uses different expression to represent the same meaning - I simply used one of them...
2- Please notice the original verse in Arabic that uses the expression "Hatta Youtoo Al-Jizia An Yaden Wahoum Sagheroon"....the part in red in in Arabic Language) the verse means: "while they are submitted/humiliated."
3- I agree that some Iranians love the US BUT The Iranians who loves it are typically the liberal and anti-Sharia groups.....more importantly, the regime that implemented Sharia hates the US and that is the point of the Op-Ed.
Is Arabic language your mother tongue?
I mentioned this verse: 9:29, which had the English translation included in the link.
Arabic Quotation
The verse in the Arabic Qur'an reads:
“قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حَتَّىٰ يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَن يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَ
Quran 9:29:
"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (Islam) of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."
I truly can not comprehend how some people until today think that Sharia can live with modernity!!!!!!!!!!
These people need to show us ONE single Sharia book that promotes freedom of conversion or stand clearly in support of women rights.... If this Sharia book, exists then they may have some right to defend it. If - on the contrary - they could not show this magical Sharia book to us... I think it is fair that they stop lying to the world about it.
We have not heard of single example of a country that applied Sharia and showed any respect for the basics of Human Rights.
Lies that try to portray Sharia as if it is a humane legal system will all break on the stone of reality!
blessings
Tawfik
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|2012-05-04 06:44:44 faisal - haters of islam are devil worshippers.javascript:J
any one who hates islam hates the almighty and most of the haters are devil worshipper and they are AMERICANS. no leader in america who dont worship satan(baphomet)666. please have u ask your self that why americans wants the world should legalize gay and lesbian which so called human right. if gay and lesbian are human right then why did the almighty destroy some people who were practicing that dirty act. gay and lesbian are neva human rights but rather evil rights. and america and uk wants the world should practice this evil act which the creator is against. who does the world belongs to and who do we honor? human as sinner or the creator as heaven FATHER. be wise those who say we should legalize gay and lesbian if their parents were to be gays and lesbians would they have the chance to come to this world and say this foolish talk. GOOD OVER evil all the time.
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|2012-05-06 21:24:26 Anonymous - FAISAL--ARE MUSLIM WOMEN TOO UGLY TO BE SEEN?Why, Faisal, does your religion demand your women to be covered up from head to toe in black burkas with only their eyes visible? And why are those women not permitted to leave their homes freely without male escort? Does a woman's body disgust Muslim men? If that is the reason, the only men that do not find a woman's body beautiful to look at are homosexual men. Seems to me that a great majority of Muslim men must be homosexual. You cannot deny that in your religion men and women are separated most of the time. In prisons all over the world where men only have men to socialize with, they become homosexual to satisfy a most natural human need for sex and love. Isn't that why men in Afghanistan, for example, take young boys for companionship or just plain sex, because there are no women around whose bodies are visible? Also, your women who are covered up and forbidden to associate with most males, do they not seek love and physical pleasure with other women who they spend most of their time with and have more in common with? I happen to know that is true from a woman who was part of your dysfunctional religion/culture...yes, your women fit the description of lesbians! By separating Muslim men from Muslim women, you create the same environment as in prisons. That is, your religion, as practiced in most of predominantly muslim countries, actually creates gays and lesbians...oh, your Muslim brothers who date young boys, they are worse than homosexuals - they are pedophiles! Get someone to translate this for you, so you can thoroughly understand what I am saying.
