Let Muslims establish the Shariah in their own lands!
12-02-2008
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams gave an
interview to the BBC on 7th February 2008 in which he proposed that some aspects
of Shariah law could be incorporated into English law.
The responses to his comments have been vitriolic. The media provocatively
reported his words that it was ‘unavoidable' that Muslims would have Shariah law
in the UK, opening a familiar attack on Islam. Prime Minister Gordon Brown
entered the debate saying that laws in Britain should only be based on British
values - although where lucrative profits for the City of London are concerned,
he is happy to promote Britain as a centre for Shariah compliant finance. A
typical response to the William's interview on websites was: "Muslims are
running away from this barbaric law which is practiced in their own countries,
once here they want to bring this barbaric law with them. If they want this law
they could go and live in a country that practices this law."
The perverse irony is that the politicians who make policies that encourage such
a hostile climate also make policies to prevent Muslims from establishing the
Shariah in the Muslim world. The ‘war on terror' was, in the words of Bush and
Blair, to prevent the rise of a Khilafah and Shariah. The support for tyrants
who crush all Islamic political opposition has continued for decades for the
same purpose. Although Brown said that laws in Britain should only be based on
British values, successive western governments have worked to force laws
everywhere in the world to be based on secular liberal values.
It is the height of conceit that these politicians, who approved the bloodshed
in Iraq and Afghanistan to export this secular system, cry about protecting
Britain's traditions and heritage, whilst obstructing the desire in the Muslim
world to have laws that reflect their Islamic beliefs, heritage and system. It
is this supremacist desire of western governments to enforce western secular
values on the Muslim world that is the real problem in the world, and not a
fabricated campaign of Muslims to enforce Shariah laws on the people of Britain.
In fact, this fabrication of a campaign to establish Shariah in Britain is
nothing more than part of a propaganda campaign to justify and fuel Britain's
global agenda to prevent the rise of the Caliphate, so as to secure its colonial
interests.
To seek to organise marriages and divorce, inheritance, food regulations and
personal financial arrangements within our community is not a campaign for the
establishment of Shariah. It is to live our lives according to Islam, in a
personal space. Yet, some amongst politicians and the media have sought to use
this as another Muslim bashing exercise, encouraging an out pouring of abuse
against Shariah, and comments that if Muslims want it, they should leave. These
events only go to show the inherent intolerance of western liberal values. The
irony is that the Islamic Khilafah state protected the rights of minorities and
allowed minorities to live according to their laws within their personal lives
and religious codes.
Moreover, whilst people will say they do not want to see Shariah punishments in
Britain, it is rich of the critics in this society - with its high levels of
theft, murder, rape and other crimes - that they lecture Muslims on their choice
of law in the Muslim world.
Prejudice is not a new thing for many Muslims in Britain. Xenophobia and the
inherent assumption of superiority is part of Europe's tradition. Germany in
1930's and Bosnia in 1990's illustrate the worst of Europe's treatment of
minorities. The experience of Blacks and Asians, Jews, Catholics, the Irish and
other minority communities' show just how common bad treatment of minorities has
been in the UK.
So how should Muslim's respond?
We should realise that this media propaganda is a deliberate provocation. This
is a means to set people against each other and create fitna (division). We
should show the beauty of Islam and the Shariah in our lives and show how Allah
has given us a sublime deen, which brings tranquillity to the heart and mind.
Such an example, where the Shariah commands us to be good to our neighbours
(regardless of race or religion), good to our elders, parents and teachers, to
refrain from insulting people's beliefs, is sorely needed. It stands in stark
contrast with increasing individualism and selfishness, antisocial behaviour and
disrespect, and the freedom to insult and persecute that so characterises
western countries today.
In this climate of attacking and smearing Islam we must stand up as a united
community and enter into a vigorous debate with the way of life in the west i.e.
secularism. For it is not merely that they attack Islam, it is also that they
are blind to the flaws that exist in this secular system that they export across
the world. While they resort to abuse and insults we should follow the example
of our Prophet (SAW) and show the flaws and wrongs of western secularism that
has brought so much misery to the people of the world. Rampant materialism, a
widening wealth gap, individualism, rape, child abuse, racism, occupation and
oppression are the fruits of a world ruled by man's freedom to do whatever he
pleases. The secular age of man has been arguably the most bloody in human
history.
Secondly, we should continue to join the work to establish the Shariah in the
Muslim world. Britain is where so much anti-Shariah and anti-Islam propaganda is
created and exported. We need to counter this propaganda by illustrating the
great weaknesses in the secular model that is so often immorally exported at the
barrel of a gun, or as a condition to humanitarian aid.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them
all, faced such propaganda and worse during 13 years in Makkah. They restricted
their response to words, arguments and a battle of ideas without raising a
finger in action. This is the battle that the enemies of Islam fear, and why
they attack with smear, exaggeration, insults and hate speech.
Our goal, dear brothers and sisters, is to voice the message of Islam strongly
to those around us, and to stay close to Allah (swt) seeking His Help at all
times.
وَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ مَوْلاَكُمْ نِعْمَ الْمَوْلَى
وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ
And if they turn away [from righteousness], know that Allah is your Protector
- [and] how excellent a Protector and how excellent a Helper! (al-Anfal 8:40)
The desperate ugly propaganda
To say
that the response from some politicians and media outlets were “provocative” is
rather polite and an understatement! It is clear to anyone who read the Friday
papers with an open mind that the vitriolic, ignorant, and many falsified
anti-Islamic propaganda comments and reports were sickening. Every comment came
with a supremacist undertone. The rightwing fanatical papers went out of their
way to propagate their (now customary) hatred against Islamic Shariah law.
These secular fascists are hatefully preaching to us what they don’t practice
themselves, i.e. governing Britain by British values. Yet they are committing
mass scale bloodshed in the Muslim world to prevent Muslims from ruling by their
values.
This is clear evidence, if it was ever needed, that the secular fascists have
lost all intellectual arguments to diminish the importance of Islam and Shariah
in the minds of the Muslims and are now resorting to desperate ugly propaganda
to spread unsubstantiated lies against Islam.
Muslims must welcome this discussion with an open arm. Let us not bend over
backward to apologise for the Shariah. If the west could be proud of its greedy
and bloodthirsty colonial past, Muslims have an added reason to be proud of
their Golden Age that was in fact due to the Shariah – not in spite of it.
Submitted by a Mujahid