Selective Shariah!

Stoning to death is not in accordance with Islamic Shariah, says Lankan Muslim scholar:

by Latheef Farook

As the birthplace of Islam and the site of Islam's two holiest cities, Makka and Madina, Saudi Arabia have been dear to the hearts of a billion and half Muslims worldwide. However the regime there was installed in the aftermath of World War 1.

The concept of tribalism, monarch, royal family and family rule are contrary to Islamic teachings which uphold equality of men and women and the entire humanity without any barrier such as caste, race or colour. Thus, the question whether a regime which is not based on the teachings of Holy Quran can selectively enforce Islamic laws.

Punishment

Commenting on this, Sri Lankan Islamic scholar M. Mifly, had this to state; "This punishment is not in accordance with Shariah law even though it is mentioned in the sayings of the Prophet which is the integral part of Shariah. On the contrary it is the domestic law of Saudi Arabia (KSA) which is binding on every person entering that country to follow it as per the international law. Any country has the freedom to call its law in any name be it Shariah, Western or anything else. However Shariah is not a brand name or monopoly of any person. It is a principle and code of life.

Any punishment purportedly given under the Shariah law needs to be in complete compliance with not only letters of Shariah but with spirit of it also.

Protection

Shariah is a divine law of which primary objectives are protection of one's life, wealth, dignity and gene. The distinctive feature of Shariah is that it takes the side of the victim, not of the perpetrator.

The Shariah does not impose its law blindly on anyone for the sake of law. The basic prerequisite principle of imposition of any Shariah law especially criminal law is the creation of conducive environment so that all the avenues to possible commission of such crime would have been blocked. (This is called in Shariah as "Sadduz Zareeah").

When we analyze the Sri Lankan maid's case, the conducive environment of blocking the avenues to such crimes (Sadduz Zareeah) were not created by several stakeholders including Governments of KSA, Sri Lanka, her family and her community.

Atmosphere

Allowing a young lady without being accompanied by her husband or close relative to enter KSA and creation of an atmosphere that prevented her from fulfilling her sexual needs are few crimes committed by KSA in terms of Shariah.

Shariah does not impose its law on the offenders of the law, simply because the offender is not one and only guilty, the others too directly or indirectly become accomplices in the commission of the crime. Under these circumstances, Shariah imposes the lesser punishment (which is called in Shariah as "Tha'zeer").

The classic example is that during the rule of Great Caliph Umar, there was unexpected widespread poverty. Therefore, the Ruler Caliph Umar suspended the sentences for theft as the people would be compelled to steal the goods under these compelling circumstances.

Therefore, I am of the firm belief that this poor housemaid can be saved from capital punishment in terms of Shariah provided Saudi Arabia strictly follows the Shariah law. Thus concluded Mifly.

Treaty

The founder of Saudi regime Abdul Aziz Ibn Al Saud, supported Britain, France and Zionist Jews to defeat Turkey's Ottoman Empire. In return British and the Zionist Jews, concluded a Treaty of Friendship with Al Saud in 1916.

During World War I, the Ottomans lost Makka, Jeddah and Madina in 1919. Ottoman Governor Shareef Hussein declared himself the Caliph of Makka on 7 March 1924, four days after the abolition of the caliphate on 3 March 1924.

Britain and the Zionists provided weapons, bribed with money and got Al Saud to attack Shareef Hussein. Shareef was defeated and Al Saud established his rule over Makka and Madina and introduced the Wahhabi rule, which was hostile to the system of caliphate.

Thus, the caliphate system was wiped out.

Punishment

Saudi Arabia has been under severe criticism from several rights organisations over its human rights records.

Condemning the Saudi criminal justice system and the strict punishments, many accused them of following one law for the Westerners and another for poor Asian and African workers.

Unfortunately for the poor and the oppressed, Saudi Arabia is big business for so-called champions of human rights as it is the largest oil producer in the world and a huge buyer of arms and other equipment besides providing jobs for tens of thousands of Western expatriates. As long as that equation continues, calls for any probe into the Saudi justice system, supposed to be reflecting Islamic Sharia, are likely to remain muted from Western governments.