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Are Muslim Americans trying to
impose a Taliban-style Shariah law in the USA ? Seemingly, the
answer is ‘yes', if you are a Republican politician. The idea that
America is this close to having her constitution replaced by the
Muslim Scripture – the Qur'an - used to be a fringe notion in the
post-9/11 era of Islamophobia that was packaged, promoted and
propagated by malicious “Islamist watchdog” bloggers, neocon
pundits with some think tanks and pen-pushing zealots. But
nowadays that absurd idea has inched closer to the mainstream,
thanks to our Republican politicians. Truly, outside Ron Paul of
Texas , I don't know of any serious Republican politician who has
not tried to bank on this ‘menace.'
Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, is the lead dog in
this evil campaign. Last year, in his speech at the American
Enterprise Institute (a neocon think tank) where he is a senior
fellow, Gingrich said, “The fight against Shariah and the
maddrassas and mosques which teach hatred and fanaticism is the
heart of the enemy movement from which the terrorists spring
forth… One of the things I am going to suggest today is a federal
law which says no court anywhere in the United States under any
circumstance is allowed to consider Shariah as a replacement for
American law.”
Gingrich is a morally decadent person with a history of corruption
and adultery, and has obvious reasons for opposing the Shariah or
God's Law that could find him guilty for violating some of the Ten
Commandments like ‘ Thou shall not commit adultery' and ‘thou
shall not covet thy neighbor's wife' and, thus, punished in this
world, let alone his wretched state in the afterworld.
But what about other Republican politicians? Are they, too,
equally depraved, corrupt or morally bankrupt? Sarah Palin,
Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum don't agree on everything, but
they all concur that we must stop Shariah law from being imposed
upon America . Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, refers
to Shariah as ‘an existential threat' to the United States .
During last year's Senate race in Nevada , GOP candidate Sharon
Angle blithely asserted that Dearborn, as well as a small town in
Texas , currently operate under Shariah law. And Minnesota
congresswoman Michele Bachmann used the occasion of Osama bin
Laden's death to tie the terrorist mastermind to the word: ‘It is
my hope that this is the beginning of the end of Shariah-compliant
terrorism.' The GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain , the CEO of
Godfather's Pizza, declared in March that he would not appoint a
Muslim to a Cabinet position or judgeship because ‘there is this
attempt to gradually ease Shariah law and the Muslim faith into
our government. It does not belong in our government.'
Most of these bigots have no clue what Shariah is, why it is a
problem and where in the Qur'an to find it. God's Commandments in
the Qur'an are not much different from those of the Torah (see
below).
• 'So know that there is no god but Allah.' (Qur'an 47:19 ) ‘ Thou
shalt have none other gods before me. ' (Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy
5:7)
• ‘ O my Lord! make this city one of peace and security: and
preserve me and my sons from worshipping idols. ' (Qur'an 14:35 )
‘ Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. Thou shalt
not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy
God am a jealous God...' (Exodus 20:4-6, Deuteronomy 5:8-10)
• ‘ And make not Allah's (name) an excuse in your oaths against
doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons;
for Allah is One Who heareth and knoweth all things. ' (Qur'an
2:224 ) ‘ Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in
vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his
name in vain. ' (Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy 5:11)
• ‘ O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the
day of congregation, haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave
your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know. ' (Qur'an
62:9 ) ‘ Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God
hath commanded thee. ' (Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:12)
• ‘ Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that
ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age
in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them,
but address them in terms of honour. ' (Qur'an 17:23 ) ‘ Honour
thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded
thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with
thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee .' (Exodus
20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16)
• ‘ … whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter
or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all
mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he
had saved the life of all mankind . ' (Qur'an 5:32 ) ‘ Thou shalt
not kill. ' (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17)
• ‘ Slay not your children, fearing a fall to poverty, We shall
provide for them and for you. Lo! the slaying of them is great
sin. Nor come nigh to adultery. Lo! it is an abomination and an
evil way. ' (Qur'an 17:31-32 ) ‘ Neither shalt thou commit
adultery .' (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18)
• ‘ O Prophet! … they will not associate in worship any other
thing whatever with Allah, that they will not steal, that they
will not commit adultery (or fornication), that they will not kill
their children, that they will not utter slander, intentionally
forging falsehood, and that they will not disobey thee in any just
matter… ' (Qur'an 60: 12) ‘ Neither shalt thou steal. ' (Exodus
20:15, Deuteronomy 5:19)
• ‘ …Conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it his heart is
tainted with sin. And Allah Knoweth all that ye do. ' (Qur'an
2:283 ) ‘ Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy
neighbour .' (Exodus 20:16, Deuteronomy 5:20)
• ‘ And strain not thine eyes toward that which We cause some
wedded pairs among them to enjoy, the flower of the life of the
world, that We may try them thereby. The provision of thy Lord is
better and more lasting . ' (Qur'an 20:131 ) ‘ Neither shalt thou
desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy
neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his
maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy
neighbour's. ' (Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21)
Gingrich's call for a federal law banning Shariah has gone
unheeded so far. But at the local level, nearly two dozen states
have introduced or passed laws in the past two years to ban the
use of Shariah in court cases. The sponsor of an Oklahoma measure
banning Shariah approved by voters last fall described it as “a
pre-emptive strike.” Gerald Allen, the Alabama state senator who
sponsored a bill banning Shariah, when asked for a definition,
could not say what it was. “I don't have my file in front of me,”
he told reporters. “I wish I could answer you better.” In
Tennessee , lawmakers sought to make following Shariah a felony
punishable by up to 15 years in prison — until they learned that
their effort would essentially make it illegal to be Muslim in
their state.
Anti-Muslim, conservative think-tanker Frank Gaffney declared
preposterously last year that “Americans across this country are
struggling to understand the true nature of the threat we face
from Shariah. They are entitled to straight talk about the extent
to which it is being insinuated, promoted, and legitimated not
only in mosques but by banks, academic institutions, and
government agencies.” Like his buddies in the hate camp, he
singles out Islam as the one religion that cannot be accommodated
in any of these institutions. It is based on the scare-mongering
notion that once a court allows a financial institute to offer
Shariah-compliant financing, it won't take too long for an imam in
a mosque to be allowed to flog an adulterer and an adulteress with
a hundred stripes. (Qur'an 24:2)
Other Islamophobes, like the conservative Center for Security
Policy, assert that all Muslims are bound to work to establish an
Islamic state in the U.S. But if this assertion is true — and the
very allegation that every Muslim in America is a national
security threat — should not Dearborn, the Detroit suburb, which
is home to the largest community of Arabs in the U.S., have seen
the Islamic theocracy movement creeping in? After all, Muslims
first moved to Dearborn nearly a century ago to work in the
factories of the Ford motor company! And yet after five or six
generations, Dearborn 's Muslims have not sought to see the city
run in accordance with the Shariah.
So, why this vicious accusation labeled against Muslim Americans?
Are these politicians, who cry ‘Shariah', engaged in one of the
oldest and dirtiest political traditions — xenophobic demagoguery?
Are they throwing around a word simply because it scares some
voters, much like what the Nazis, in particular, did against the
Jews of Germany and what the Christians, in general, did against
Jews throughout history?
These demagogues forget that American courts are governed by
American law, which has long provided that parties to contracts
can provide for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (such as
arbitration). As noted last year by Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Editor-in-Chief of the New Jersey Jewish News , among those
alternative mechanisms is the beit din , or rabbinic law court.
Every day Jews go before batei din to arbitrate real estate deals,
nasty divorces, and business disputes. “In fact, according to the
Beth Din of America ,” wrote Silow-Carroll, “Jewish law does not
allow a Jew to be a plaintiff in a secular court without first
obtaining permission from a Jewish court. Permitting people to
settle their disputes in their own religious courts is not a
‘replacement' of American law, but a time-honored expression of
religious freedom and accommodation.” If this be the reality, why
a different yardstick for Muslims when they don't have even an
equivalent of the Jewish Beth Din in America ?
Never mind that most Muslim countries do not enforce the Shariah
laws of punishment prescribed in the Qur'an, what is so striking
about Gingrich and the other Sharia-phobes is their lack of faith
in the Constitution, the American legal system, and the American
people themselves.
As Amy Sullivan recently noted in the USA Today, the
anti-communist Red Scare of the 1950s made broad use of guilt by
innuendo and warnings about shadowy conspiracies. She suggested,
“If GOP candidates insist they are not doing the same thing to
ordinary Muslims, they can prove it by explaining what they
believe sharia is and whether they're prepared to ban the
consideration of all religious codes from civil arbitration.
Anything less is simply fear mongering.”
The far right is long on fear mongering and short on providing
supportive evidence. ‘Shariah' has become their code word and
symbol to exploit American voters' fears and engage in Islam- and
Muslim-bashing without any push-back because nobody, including
most of the candidates, knows what it is. They scare ordinary
Americans with their monster, and then they want to take credit
for saving the people from their own creation.
It's no surprise that two candidates could not resist playing the
‘Muslim card' in the recent GOP debate. Herman Cain insisted,
“There have been instances in New Jersey and Oklahoma where
Muslims did try to influence court decisions with Sharia Law.”
Cain wants to question Muslims about their commitment to the
Constitution ‘to make sure we have people committed to the
Constitution working for this country.' But he wouldn't do the
same with Christians or Jews! Newt Gingrich could not afford to be
left behind, and said: “I'm in favor of saying to people, ‘If
you're not prepared to be loyal to the United States , you will
not serve in my administration,' period.”
As a Muslim American, I would like to ask these Republican
politicians: when did Bush's Global War on Terror become a war on
American Muslims? Didn't GW Bush himself say on September 17, 2001
: “ America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and
Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country?”
“And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and
emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect,”
said Bush.
In closing, let me echo what Professor John Esposito wrote in his
recent Washington Post article: “To those Republicans who continue
to stoke the flames of fear and bigotry to attract media attention
and benefit their own political careers, it's time to call a spade
a spade, a bigot a bigot and stop those who would resurrect the
intolerance of the past and add Muslims to a long list of groups
that has included Jews, African Americans, World War II Japanese
Americans and others who have been victims of religious
discrimination and racism.”
If the Republican politicians don't stop this hateful campaign
against Muslim Americans, no Muslim would ever vote for them, and
not even their cronies that once campaigned for Bush.
Dr. Habib Siddiqui is a peace activist based in USA.He blogs at
http://www.drhabibsiddiqui.blogspot.com/
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