FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Abul Kasem, an ex-Muslim who is the author of hundreds of articles and several books on Islam including, Women in Islam. He was a contributor to the book Leaving Islam – Apostates Speak Out as well as to Beyond Jihad: Critical Views From Inside Islam.

 

FP: Abul Kasem, welcome back to Frontpage Interview.

Kasem: Thank you Jamie. It is my pleasure to be interviewed by Frontpage.

FP: I would like to discuss Islamic law with you today and how it dictates almost every single aspect of human life.

I think the best way to begin is with how Sharia is the life-force of Islam.

Kasem: To be sure, we must understand why Sharia is the life-force of Islam, and why Islam must impose (by force, if needed) Sharia to the entire world. Once we grasp this tenet, then we can understand how and why myriad specific Sharia laws affect lives.

The basic tenets of Sharia emanate with the assumption that Allah has chosen the believers (i.e., the Muslims) to rule the world. It might sound fascistic, but make no mistake: the Qur’an is absolutely determined to hand over the rule of the world to the followers of Islam: more specifically, to the Bedouin Arabs. Because Islam = Arabism. In the Qur’an (3:104, 3:110) Allah says that Arabs are the best of people ever created.

In verse 2:143 Allah says He changed Qiblah to distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims. Maulana Maududi, the ideological guru of the current Islamists explains this verse in this manner: This constitutes the proclamation appointing the religious community (ummah) consisting of the followers of Muhammad to religious guidance and leadership of the world. In the second place there is an allusion to the change in the direction of Prayer from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah. People of limited intelligence could see no significance in this change of direction although the substitution of Jerusalem by the Ka'bah amounted to the removal of the Children of Israel from their position of world leadership and their replacement by the ummah of Muhammad (peace be on him).

Maududi, in connection with verse 2:145, even writes: To deviate from that knowledge to please others is tantamount to offending the prophetic mission and is inconsistent with the gratitude that the Prophet ought to feel for having been favoured with the position of world leadership.

In the above sentences Maududi clearly states that the Muslims are the chosen people of Allah to rule the world. This ruling must be done with Allah’s laws, which is Sharia.

In verse 2:150 Allah says that by instructing them to turn their faces to the sacred mosque (Kaba) He has bestowed a great favor to the Muslims. Maududi explains this favor in this manner: The 'favour' here refers to the position of world leadership and guidance from which God removed the children of Israel and which was then conferred upon this ummah.

The highest reward that can be granted to a people in recognition of its righteousness is its designation, by God's command, to the leadership of the world in order to guide the entire human race to godliness and righteousness. What is said here, therefore, is that the command to change the qiblah was a sign of installation of the Muslims to leadership. Hence, the Muslims should follow the directives of God if for no other reason than that ingratitude and disobedience might deprive them of the honour that had been bestowed upon them.

FP: So this is why Sharia is the backbone of Islam, right?

Kasem: Yes, it is the heart and soul of Islam. Without Sharia Islam is a toothless tiger or a poisonless snake. Sharia empowers Islam with the legal power to enforce its draconian, barbaric, uncivilized, and cruel provisions. Sharia gives Islam the arms and legs to force the world to submit to Islam.

In many verses of the Koran Allah steadfastly announces that whoever deviates from Sharia is a kafir and he/they must be fought upon (i.e., killed) by the Muslims.

According to ibn Kathir, in verse 2:151, Allah declares that He had sent Muhammad (as a favor) to preach the Qur’an and to teach Sharia laws which the pagans of Mecca did not know.

According to verse 4:64 Allah had sent Muhammad to invite people to obey Allah’s orders, that is, Sharia laws.

To provide more fire power, ibn Kathir say that in verse 5:44, Allah declares that whoever does not want to abide by Allah’s law, Sharia, is a kafir. This includes the Christians ( 5:47 ). Mind you, in Islam, a kafir must be fought upon (killed) or forced to submit to Sharia laws.

In verse 9:73 Allah urges the believers (i.e., the Muslims) to make war on unbelievers and hypocrites and show firmness (be harsh) against them. The eminent exegete of the Qur’an, ibn Kathir writes that Allah has commanded the Muslims to fight with sword the disbelievers, to strive against the hypocrites with tongue and has annulled lenient treatment of them. According to ibn Kathir perform with sword jihad against the disbelievers and be harsh with the hypocrites with words; this means establishing Islamic penal laws, i.e. Sharia laws against them. Ibn Kathir further says that verse 9:73 cancels verse 2:256, the so-called verse on ‘no compulsion’ on religion.

Here are few more Qur’anic verses which unambiguously declare the supremacy of Sharia.

Allah will decide by His law (judgment, Sharia) between various sects (between the Jews and the Christians—ibn Abbas)…27:78

Allah is the Law-giver; He has appointed Muhammad to implement the only correct laws (Sharia laws)…45:18

Allah created the heavens and the earth to implement justice to all (Sharia law)…45:22

Muhammad is to strike hard against the unbelievers (fight them with weapons and armaments—ibn Kathir. Fight them with swords—Jalalyn), hypocrites (punish them according to Sharia laws—ibn Kathir) and to be firm (harsh) against them; the abode for the unbelievers and the hypocrites is hell...66:9

The absolute supremacy of Sharia is upheld in the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (1990). Article 22 of this declaration concludes that all rights and freedoms mentioned are subject to the Islamic Sharia, which is the declaration's sole source.

Strangely, Sharia gets furher boost when the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Willams submits to dhimmitude by espousing that certain provisions of Sharia are inevitable in the United Kingdom.

Amazingly, even President Bush submits to Sharia when he initiates dialogue with OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) and to follow up, sends his special envoy Mr. Sada Cumber (March 5, 2008) to meet the OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

Thus, due the apathy of the civilized world, it is apparent that Sharia is slowly but steadily building up momentum to engulf the entire world. The only way to halt this incursion of Sharia is a firm rejection of it by the entire world population, irrespective of what their politically correct governments are doing to please Islam and the Arabs. We must not forget that Islam equals Arabism.

FP: What, in your view, is the element of Sharia that nurtures injustice?

Kasem: The most unfair element of Sharia is that it repudiates the fundamental principle of justice, that is: equality in the eye of law. In Sharia, Muslims and non-Muslims are not equal. This inequality extends even to the treatment of Muslim women. Muslim women are not treated as equal to Muslim men in the tenets of Sharia. Here is a glaring example: According to Saudi law (strictly based on Islamic Sharia) the life of a Muslim male is much higher than a non-Muslim man, and the life of female Muslim is much lower than that of Muslim man.

For instance:

WALL STREET JOURNAL: - The Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2002). In Saudi Arabia, the concept of blood money as per Islamic Shariat (If a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the latter has to pay blood money or compensation), as follows:

100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man

50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman

50,000 riyals if a Christian man

25,000 riyals if a Christian woman

6,666 riyals if a Hindu man

3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman

That is, a Muslim man's life is worth 33 times that of a Hindu woman.

The inequality of Muslims and non-Muslims is enshrined in the Qur’an and hadis. Here are a few examples:

A Muslim must not be killed for killing an infidel (Hadis and ibn Kathir’s interpretation of verse 5:45 ).

Believers and non-believers are not equal…6:50, 28:61, 32:19, 35:19-22, 38:28, 39:9, 40:58, 45:21, 59:20, 67:22, 68:35

That is why Sharia is a great insult to a civilized world.

FP: Ok, so let’s move on. Tell us how Islamic law dictates every single aspect of human life.

Kasem: I can give a sample of Sharia laws as enunciated in several authentic Islamic sources. Mind you these laws are not from the dead pages of history. Many of these laws are vigorously enforced in Islamic countries.

The Sharia laws I will discuss are extracted from:

Reliance of the Traveller (Umdat al-Saliq) translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller. These laws are indicated with alphanumeric.

Sharia the Islamic Law by Abdur Rahman I. Doi.

The Hedaya (commentary on the Islamic Laws) translated by Charles Hamilton.

So where would you like to begin?

FP: How about with marriage and sex?

Kasem: Fair enough:

The husband’s permission is required for a wife to work (Doi, p.117).

Beating a wife is allowed (Doi, p.130).

The wife must worship the husband. Unbridled freedom of modern women is not good (Doi, p.132).

Muslim women can’t marry unbelievers under any circumstances (Doi, p.138).

The guardian of a woman must be a male. A woman cannot be married by herself. A widow can marry by herself (Doi, p.141).

Hanafi, Shafii and Maliki rate the marriage of a minor boy or a girl as lawful (Doi, p.142).

A Muslim man is allowed to have four wives at one time (Hedaya, p.31; Doi, p.147).

A law against polygamy is against the Qur’an. Not a single Hadith is against polygamy; modernists reject Qur’an and Sunnah. Satisfy more wives (Doi, p.152).

Prohibition on polygamy is a violation of Sharia provision. Court does not understand biological need. Follow Muhammad (59:7) (Doi, p.153).

A drop of semen is the greatest sin (Doi, p.236).

Adoption is not allowed in Sharia (Doi, p.463).

Circumcision is obligatory for both men and women (foreskin for men, prepuce of clitoris for women) (e4.3, p.59).

Wudu (ablution)—use not less than 0.51 litre of water (e5.24(1), p.66).

Ghusl (bath)—use not less than 2.03 litres of water (e5.24(2), p.66).

Make repeated love, do repeated ablution (e5.29, p.67).

Human private parts are impure; do not touch them with your hands (e7.4, p.74).

Stoning to death for adultery (married person, man or woman) (o12.2, p.610).

Fornication: scourge 100 stripes and banish 81 km for 1 year (for unmarried persons) (o12.2, p.610).

Men scourged standing, women sitting (o12.5, p.611).

Stone the adulterer/adulteress even in severe cold or illness (o12.6, p.611).

Sodomy and lesbianism considered as adultery; same punishment; kill both for sodomy (p17.2, p.665).

To get united with the previous husband a divorced wife must marry another person, have complete sex with him and get divorced by him voluntarily (Hedaya, p.15, n7.7, p.565; p29.1, p.673).

When making love, no talking (r32.7, p.767).

Unlawful for a man to look at a woman who is not his wife or one of his unmarriageable kin (m2.3, p.512).

Husband and wife cannot look at each others genitals’ (m2.4 p.513).

Unlawful for a woman to show any parts of her body to an adolescent boy or a non-Muslim woman (m2.7, p.513).

Whatever is unlawful to look is also unlawful to touch (m2.9, p.513).

A woman must not conduct her own marriage; she requires a male guardian (m3.4, p.518).

A non-Muslim man cannot be the guardian of a Muslim woman; a Muslim man cannot be the guardian of a non-Muslim woman (m3.4, p.519).

A male guardian of a virgin woman may force her to marry a man of his choice (m3.13, p.522).

Arab women cannot marry non-Arab men (because Allah has chosen the Arabs above others) (m4.2(1), p.523).

A man of lowly profession cannot marry the daughter of higher profession (m4.2(3), p.524).

When the husband settles the dower (bride money) or defers it, a wife must immediately submit her private parts to her husband’s demand for sex, unless she has legitimate ground of not doing so; if she requests to wait the maximum waiting time is three days (m5.1, p.523).

A husband has the full right to enjoy his wife’s person, from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet (m5.4, p.526).

It is unlawful for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man (m6.7(5), p.529).

Husbands are not obliged to provide doctor’s fees, medicines and cosmetics to wives; they must provide only food, cloths and housing; rebellious wife doesn’t get anything (Hedaya, p.140; m11.4, p.544).

A Muslim man is allowed to beat his wife or wives (the Qur’an, 4:34 ; m10.12, p.541; o17.4, p.619).

If wife refuses sex, the husband is not obliged to support her until she surrenders her person to the husband (m11.9, p.545).

A divorced wife gets maintenance only for maximum three months (Hedaya, p.145, Shafii law, no support during her waiting period if pregnant, then support is on daily basis until she gives birth (m11.10 (3), p.546).

A son is obliged to finance his poor father’s marriage (m12.5, p.549).

Husband divorces wife instantly even under torture, compulsion, alcohol, narcotics and jokes; then he can marry a new set of four wives and continue the cycle (Hedaya, p.81, 253; n3.5, p.560).

The only way for a wife to get divorce is to convince the sharia court and also to pay money to her husband (Hedaya, p.112; n5.0, p.562; n7.7).

FP: How about using the bathroom?

Kasem: Visiting lavatory—cover head, cover feet, carry stones (odd number, minimum three), and say prayer (e9.1, p.76).

Entering toilet—left foot first; exiting toilet right foot first, offer prayer (e9.1, p.76).

After urinating men squeeze the penis with the left hand from base to head (of penis); women squeeze the front (vulva) between thumb and forefinger; in both cases three times (e9.1(11), p.76).

Do not defecate with front facing the sun, the moon or the sacred in Jerusalem , Kaba (e9.0(16), p.77).

When no water available do wudu, ghusl using dirt (e12.0, p.84).

FP: Praying, eating and drinking?

Kasem: Beat a child (10+) for not praying and fasting (f1.2, p.109).

Not praying is unbelief; penalty is execution (f1.3, p.109).

Pray wearing ankle length shirt and a turban (f5.7, p.122).

Use a tooth stick before every prayer/reciting the Qur’an (e3.2, p.57).

Drinking alcoholic drink—strike 40 stripes…o16.2

Muslims cannot eat meat slaughtered by Zoroastrians, apostates, idol worshippers, and the Christians of the desert Arab tribe (j17.2, p.364).

FP: Apostasy and jihad?

Kasem: Making sarcasm is leaving Islam (o8.0, p.595).

Kill the apostates of Islam (o8.1, o8.2, p.596).

No indemnity required for killing an apostate (o8.4, p.596).

No expiation is required for killing an apostate of Islam (o5.4, p.593).

Jihad means to war against the non-Muslims (lesser jihad, based on 2:216, 4:89, 9:36 ) (o9.0; p.599).

Jihad is warfare to establish the religion of Islam (greater Jihad)…p.599

Basis for Jihad:

(1) fighting is prescribed (2:216).

(2) slay them wherever you find them (4:89).

(3) fight the idolatry utterly ( 9:36 ).

Hadith: I have been commanded to fight—Bukhari.

To go forth in the morning—Muslim

Jihad is a communal obligation (o9.1; p.600).

Jihad is obligatory for every Muslim who is able to perform it, male or female (o9.3, p.601).

Caliph makes war upon the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians…..by first inviting them to enter Islam, if no success then pay jizya, if no jizya then kill them (o9.8, p.602).

Women and children captured in a jihad operation become the slaves of Muslims; the women’s previous marriage is immediately annulled (o9.13; p.604).

Arab idolater must become Muslims or die (o9.9, p.603).

In a jihad operation Muslims can kill old men (40+) and monks (o9.10, p.603).

Male captives’ fate is decided by the Caliph; this includes gratuitous killing of male captives (o9.14, p.604).

Truces are permitted but not obligatory. When uppermost—no truce until some interest is served---‘so do not be fainthearted and call for peace when it is you who are the uppermost’ (the Qur’an 47:35).

If weak then make truce for 10 years.

If possibility of making Muslim--then establish 4 months truce.

Spoils are for free male Muslims (o10.0, p.606).

Dhimmis are: 1. the Jews 2. the Christians 3. Zoroastrians 4. Samarians and Sabians 5. Adherents of religion of Abraham (o11.1, p.607).

Not included in Dhimmi: idol worshippers, no sacred book, Sikhs, Bahai, Mormons, Qadianis. Books revealed after Islam are not acceptable (o11.2, p.607).

The Dhimmis’ public behaviour and dress must be Islamic (o11.3, p.607).

Minimum jizya is one dinar (4.235g of gold) per year; maximum jizya—no limit; no woman, children or insane is to pay jizya (o11.4, p.p.608)/

Dhimmis must comply with Islamic rules except drunkenness, can’t greet them with as-salamu alaikum, must keep to the side of the street, no high building, no wine display, no church bell, no new churches, not stay in Hijaz for more than 3 days (o11.6, p.608).

FP: How about some miscellaneous rules that we may have skipped?

Kasem: Women’s testimony in Business transactions is half of men’s (the Qur’an 2:282, Hedaya, p.637; o24.7, p.637).

Women’s testimony is not accepted in Hudood cases (Hedaya, p.353; o24.9, p.638).

Evidence of a female singer and slave (male or female) is not admissible (Hedaya, p.361).

Music, song dance haram (r40.0, p.774).

Slavery—allowed (w13.0, p.871).

Masturbation, unlawful (Qur’an 23:5-7) (w37.0, p.932).

Smoking unlawful (w41.1, p.940).

Insurance unlawful (w42.0, p.942).

Interest haram (w43.0, p.943).

Photography—sometimes OK, sometimes not Ok (w50.0, p.958).

TV, offensive, unlawful (w50.10, p.964).

Citizenship in an Islamic country, severely restricted (o11.0, p.607).

It is offensive to send Muslim children to day care centers run by non-Muslims (m13.3, p.552).

Muslim women’s Blood-Money is half of Muslim men’s; Jews and Christians one-third; Zoroastrians one-fifteenth (only sons, not daughters can claim Blood-Money) (o4.9, p.590).

Toothpaste is offensive; use a twig (from Arak tree, miswak) or tooth stick instead (e3.0, e3.1, p.53).

Clip moustache, shaving beard is unlawful/offensive (e4.1(2), p.58).

Visiting sick non-believers is merely permissible (g1.2, p.222).

FP: So what do all these rules -- and there are myriad more -- say about Sharia?

Kasem: These rules demonstrate that Sharia is barbaric, hateful, imperialistic, and unjust. Civilization cannot progress with such archaic and unfair laws.

FP: Abul Kasem, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.

Kasem: Thank you, Jamie. It was a pleasure to expose the nature of Islamic Sharia.