US Author Corrects Shari`ah Misconceptions
Amid ferocious campaigns to ban the use of Shari`ah in American courts, a US Muslim author is championing efforts to dispel misconceptions about Islamic law.
"It's illogical. It's a fear tactic. It's stupid," Imam Sohaib Sultan told attendants of an interfaith event cited by The Inquirer on Monday, April 15.
Hosted by the Jewish Catholic Muslim Dialogue of Southern New Jersey, the event, themed "Islamic Shari`ah Law: Myths and Facts", was attended by more than 100 people.
Organizers say the event is meant to address prevailing misconceptions about Shari`ah, which has been targeted by some American politicians.
In recent years, bills to ban the application of Shari`ah have been proposed throughout the country, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and have passed in several states.
In 2011, lawmakers in Tennessee proposed making it a felony to follow some versions of Shari`ah.
Sultan, the Muslim life coordinator and chaplain at Princeton University, said proposals such as the one in Tennessee violate Muslim rights enshrined in the First Amendment.
"Let it be clear in this room and beyond this room: When people talk about regulating and imposing bans on shari`ah, they are regulating and imposing bans on Islam itself," he said.
In Islam, Shari`ah govern issues in Muslims’ lives from daily prayers to fasting and from to inheritance and marital cases to financial disputes.
The Islamic rulings, however, do not apply on non-Muslims, even if in a dispute with Muslims.
Shari`ah is more about how to live according to the will of God, Sultan said.
It's "an ethical system of life, a moral way of being in the world," he said.
The renowned author said that Shari`ah should be understood within a larger ethical system of Islam.
Source: On Islam
Hosted by the Jewish Catholic Muslim Dialogue of Southern New Jersey, the event, themed "Islamic Shari`ah Law: Myths and Facts", was attended by more than 100 people.
Organizers say the event is meant to address prevailing misconceptions about Shari`ah, which has been targeted by some American politicians.
In recent years, bills to ban the application of Shari`ah have been proposed throughout the country, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and have passed in several states.
In 2011, lawmakers in Tennessee proposed making it a felony to follow some versions of Shari`ah.
Sultan, the Muslim life coordinator and chaplain at Princeton University, said proposals such as the one in Tennessee violate Muslim rights enshrined in the First Amendment.
"Let it be clear in this room and beyond this room: When people talk about regulating and imposing bans on shari`ah, they are regulating and imposing bans on Islam itself," he said.
In Islam, Shari`ah govern issues in Muslims’ lives from daily prayers to fasting and from to inheritance and marital cases to financial disputes.
The Islamic rulings, however, do not apply on non-Muslims, even if in a dispute with Muslims.
Shari`ah is more about how to live according to the will of God, Sultan said.
It's "an ethical system of life, a moral way of being in the world," he said.
The renowned author said that Shari`ah should be understood within a larger ethical system of Islam.
Source: On Islam
