The Coming of Sharia Law
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, ignited quite a controversy earlier this month when he suggested incorporating certain aspects of Sharia law into the English legal system. In the aftermath of the media storm, Williams offered no apology. Rather he merely expressed regret over “any misleading choice of words.”
Several major media outlets lauded his comments and portrayed him as an embattled hero. The Guardian described a scene where “all but a handful of conservative evangelicals” gave the leader of the Church of England a standing ovation.
It’s no secret that European Christianity is in disrepair. Low church attendance and rampant atheism have been sounding the alarm for decades. The statistics are alarming. But, if you ask me, the Archbishop’s remarks strike an even more ominous chord—a death knell for a once vibrant faith that now has trouble—not only perpetuating itself—but also resisting evils rushing in to fill the void left by its abdication.
Williams is right about one thing: Islamic practices are encroaching upon public life. And in Europe the problem will only worsen. Muslim immigration and high birthrates could make Christianity’s historic bastion a fortress of Muslim might.
Many fail to understand that Islam is not only a religion; it’s a law too. In the Islamic mind, law and religion are inseparable. In Arabic there is not even a word to express the idea of secularity.
The British may fancy themselves free from the perceived chains of their Christian past. But if they’re not careful, they will find they have only traded them for the iron fetters of Islamic rule.
Several major media outlets lauded his comments and portrayed him as an embattled hero. The Guardian described a scene where “all but a handful of conservative evangelicals” gave the leader of the Church of England a standing ovation.
It’s no secret that European Christianity is in disrepair. Low church attendance and rampant atheism have been sounding the alarm for decades. The statistics are alarming. But, if you ask me, the Archbishop’s remarks strike an even more ominous chord—a death knell for a once vibrant faith that now has trouble—not only perpetuating itself—but also resisting evils rushing in to fill the void left by its abdication.
Williams is right about one thing: Islamic practices are encroaching upon public life. And in Europe the problem will only worsen. Muslim immigration and high birthrates could make Christianity’s historic bastion a fortress of Muslim might.
Many fail to understand that Islam is not only a religion; it’s a law too. In the Islamic mind, law and religion are inseparable. In Arabic there is not even a word to express the idea of secularity.
The British may fancy themselves free from the perceived chains of their Christian past. But if they’re not careful, they will find they have only traded them for the iron fetters of Islamic rule.
posted by Drew Dyck at 4:00 PM
3 Comments:
"The Coming of Sharia Law"
by Ven. Professor Joe Omeokwe, NY, NY, USA Obiagwu@aol.com
1. I wish that Saudi Arabia (the cradle of Islam) or Iran (the cradle of Islamic fundamentalism) would like Britain (the cradle of Anglicanism) become known and respected for the tolerance accorded to all its citizens and non-citizens in their midst. Britain has been this way right from the time of the Empire to the present day British Society of the 21st Century. Muslims like all other minorities have been in Britain long and continued to live in this multi cultural society enjoying freedom (including the rights to build Mosques wherever they like and worship whenever they want) like all other ethnic groups. Can that be said of any nation on this earth where Islam is the official religion and even in a place like Northern Nigeria in this time and age?
2. Majority of the Muslims started to emigrate and settle in Britain after the Second World War and they continued pouring up to today. But focusing on a country like Nigeria, for example, the Igbos of Nigeria also started pouring into Northern Nigeria since the founding the Nigerian Nation? Can that be said of their experience. The Moslems (whether foreign born or not) can now seat in the House of Commons like any British but can any non-Moslem ever truely be seated in any elected or appointed office anywhere in any Islamic governed state anywhere in the World. Yet, consider the recent comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend (Dr.) Rowan Williams, that “it seems unavoidable” some of the Muslim Sharia Law could be adopted in Britain. This has generated great furore and controversy. For one thing, Britain is a progressive and open society. No hooligans were incited to burned down Mosques or kill Moslems or anyone at that for such atrocious comments as regarded by the majority of the Christians world over.
3. The comments by Rowan at least it has opened debate with majority against it and some in favor. Even if the Archbishop was of the opinion that Muslims like the Orthodox Jews needed to resolve some of their own personal domestic matters the ways Beth Din the Jewish Religious Courts settle matters, can any Islamic leader make a similar gesture in any nation in Africa or Middle East where Islam is the official religion or has the control on the power of governance? So the question is not what is wrong with Archbishop Rowan's statement but why can't the Moslems accept that non-Moslems have every right as Nigerians to live free without fear of being lynched or murdered for whatever reason? Yet, this is the case in many Islamic nations around the World.
4. Someone once wrote, "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." Please note what is truly obtainable in a civilized society: The Beth takes care of many of the Jewish community affairs including the fixing of Sabbath dates, the Kosher Certification the equivalent of Halal catering among the Muslims. Divorce takes place when a husband writes a document called Get written in the Ancient Hebrew called Aramaic and handed over to women by the husbands not the vice versa thus ending the dispute but all criminal matters are left to the British Courts. So like the Jews, Muslims in Britain for example are also running the Sharia Council helping to settle matrimonial disputes even though the Council is not fully recognized yet they help bring reconciliation between husbands and wives. There are other Independent Organizations running independently such as the Muslim Council of Britain trying to unify the different Muslim Associations and Organizations, The Halal Authority and many more. In terms of education unlike the Jews who have been running multiple dozens of voluntary aided schools recognized by the Authorities the Muslims have only handful recognized out of more than 150 schools privately run by them." It is my prayers that Christians in places like Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya and so on would have the same footing to fight for this same right in every dim and corner of these Islamic nations as to set up their own customary courts and organizations to take of every other non-Moslems issues and live free like any other citizen. Their own cultural laws having every right to exist side by side with the Sharia Laws (without any argument of degree of superiority or comparison) with all due respects accorded.
5. Althought the Muslims have freedom and access like every other citizens in Britian and now craving to start enjoying the same kind of freedom others do enjoy such as Beth Din Courts run by the Jews for centuries. I want to state categorically that I support every move to grant every freedom to everyone to do whatever they want to do within the context of the constitution. But, please, let the Moslems and Islamic nations recognize the right of every other Non-Moslem anywhere in the world to practice his or her religion freely and that Islam in NOT the religion of the human-kind. The Muslim Council of Britain can vigorously defend the comments made by the Archbishop as much as they want but they must also vigorously condemn those Islamic terrorists that are creating terrors all over Britain to destroy this very freedom. This is the same very freedoom that can make anyone air their views very freely and openly like the Archbishop without the risk of being put under the sentence of death by some Imam somewhere.
6. In Nigeria for example the British colonialists introduced the Islamic Law to coexist alongside the English Law and the customary law and they continued as they had been before Independence." But what is wrong with this arrangement? Why all this new rash declarations and impositions of the Sharia laws in many parts of Nigeria if they have operated in the Islamic areas of Nigeria without any hitches and hindrances since the Colonial days? The facts are that all the current wranglings in the Islamic North of Nigeria about the Sharia laws (laws which actually have been actively existent and practiced all over Northern Nigeria from the Colonial days along side our civil laws) are mere disguises to create a confused atmosphere to stripe the Christians of their property and kill as many of them as possibly knowing that there would be no law - Sharia, civil (criminal) or customary to hold anyone accountable. Anyone who kills an 'Nyamiri or Kirfiri or infidel' is to be rewarded secretly and thus folks are emboldened to continue this carnage against Christians in the Northern parts of Nigeria without the fear of any reprisal or retribution of law (Sharia or not). If all the past riots in this country were about the Sharia Laws and if the Sharia Laws are something very dear to the heart of Islam, how can this same Sharia Laws not hold these Moslems who are killing innocent Christians accountable and punishable? Let us be honest to ourselves. These Christians (many are northerners too) are killed for the mere facts that they are not Moslems.
7. In effect, I want to point out to the Archbishop of Canterbury - The Most Rev. Rowan Willims that the Sharia has been generating controversies not due to poor perception or understanding of the Muslim Laws especially among the Non-Muslims as he wrote. We regard it with not with suspicion but with facts. Neither do we regard it with any atom of virtual contempt as he wrote nor with misconception and sheer prejudice. The Archbishop cannot talk of ignorance without taking a good look the current and past Islamic leaders like Ghadaffy of Libya or the former Governor Sani of Zamfara State of Nigeria when he decided to introduce Sharia without any due process accorded the constitution as the only legal frame-work binding on the nation. Which Christian in Zamfara State of Nigeria at that time dare debate this Governor openly or privately as to gain an understanding of the plights of the Christian minority in his state. What did the Christians get after he declared the Sharia law in his state - death and mayhem to all Christians especially at sight. He was roundly condemned not because it would not work as mere politics or something that would fizzle out. He was condemned because he has created the atmosphere where those Moslems who are ignorant in his state did read his declaration of Sharia as a signal to kill those who are non-Moslems for not following the Sharia Law. This was eventually the case. You must agree with me that most fundamental Moslems hold to it as a matter of life and death for anyone not strictly adherent to the Sharia law.
CONCLUSION: I submit to all that as much as the call for the adoption of some aspects of Sharia in the UK by the Leader of the Anglican Church as unavoidable and as certainly a welcomed idea making Britain a very good example of Society willing to tolerate and accommodate, that there is a very serious lesson on the meaning of a free and open society for the Islamic nations of this world. It is my prayers that none of these statements by the Archbishop would be misconstrued to further radicalize the Islamic fundamentalists of this world or embolden anyone who would misread his statement as a signal to continue perpetuating this periodic pogrom of Christians in the Islamic Nations like Nigeria. Let folks like the Archbishop begin to educate the Moslem World on the meaning of a multi-faith society like Britain and Nigeria where we will never share a common belief's system but have continual differences in matters of faith and religion. People like the Archbishop better channel their energy to work hard in those parts of the World like Northern Nigeria and Saudi Arabia known to be the bed rock of Islamic insurgencies and the unmitigated massacre of innocent Christians. If the Sharia courts can provide a quicker and more efficient way to justice than the other alternatives. please let them be used to bring to justice all those responsible for the carnage perpetrated against the Christians anywhere in the Islamic regions of the World. Indeed, it is my prayers that the Archbishop's comments would help in bringing communities together - healing the wounds caused by alienation through ignorance. Yet, like the Sharia laws, which may not be unavoidable in places like Britain, Christians pursuing their daily livelihood while holding on the faith of Christ Jesus is unavoidable (even without thier involvement in the local politics) in the Islamic regions of the world.
Sincerely,
M. Joe Omeokwe, Ph.D.
Professor, Mathematics Dept. - The City Univ. of New York
Senior Pastor - The Church in the Vineyard - CANA
Vineyard International Christian Ministries
1140 Teller Avenue
Bronx, New York 10456
USA.
Phone: (718) 538-9211 (Office) (718) 542-7417(Fax/24 Hrs. Hotline)
Joe...
Where is the 'Freedom' for Christians in Islamic countries...
It's freaking hilarious people want sharia laws for moslems... But the problem has and always will be that they expect more from non moslems till they are the majority.
I think this is interesting! I have been saying for a long time in the end it will be the two bloodlines that will be at the final battle the two seeds of Jacob. One that was favored and one that was cast out!
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