Friday, November 25, 2011

Sharia Favors the Rich

Muslims assure us that Sharia would make our countries better. Yet, wherever we see Sharia in practice, we see nothing but problems.

NIGERIA--Boko Haram’s deadly insurgency is fuelled by their desire to see stricter Islamic law, or Sharia, in northern Nigeria. Civil rights activists have voiced their concerns that poor people would bear the brunt of a more severe form of Sharia.

Sharia has been practised to varying degrees for as long as Islam has been in Nigeria. But in 1999, the then-governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani, called for criminal cases to be tried in Sharia courts.

Civil rights activists in Nigeria complain that Sharia hands down harsh sentences to poor Muslims, while the rich use it to their advantage.

Ahmed Sani, the architect of Sharia in modern Nigeria, is a case in point. He married a child bride from Egypt last year and condoned his actions citing Sharia, which permits men to marry wives as young as 13.

Civil rights activist, Shehu Sani stood up to Ahmed Sani, who is no relation, “for those of us who were human rights activists and Muslims we had a duty to our conscience and to our people to stand up to Ahmed Sani. Because we were concerned that Sharia would be used against the poor and to hunt down political enemies.”

Several Sharia cases have brought condemnation from the international community. Most of them have involved poor women accused of adultery who face being stoned to death.

But some argue that it is Nigerian legal system that is at fault.

“Sharia has afforded women so many rights," says Remi Atunwa, a barrister and practising Muslim. "For example it stipulates that if a woman doesn’t want to cook, then her husband is obligated to get her a maid.”

But “people manipulate the system for political and religious reasons," she adds. "And the average person either doesn’t understand the system or doesn’t have the means [financial], required to navigate it.”

Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims already have the choice of having civil cases heard in a Sharia law court. Twelve northern states also allow the resort to Sharia in criminal cases. What Boko Haram is demanding is for Sharia to replace common and customary law in the 19 states that make up northern Nigeria.

The group also wants to see a stricter form of Sharia implemented, as in Saudi Arabia or Iran where stoning and amputations are not uncommon. The problem is that there are several million non-Muslims living in these states. And that wealthy Nigerians tend to be able to escape justice more than the rest of the population. (Source)

4 comments:

Deleting said...

Twenty bucks says Kim has already posted here.
Kim, I'm curious, what country is practicing Sharia to your satisfaction?

Deleting said...

huh...guess i lost twenty bucks...

simple_truth said...

Deleting said...

" huh...guess i lost twenty bucks..."

Just change your bet to her commenting at some point and defending Sharia. You can then bet twice what you did before and collect your $20. You still win.

Tom ta tum Tom said...

Wait! I don't understand... If the wealthy can pay/bribe their way out of Islamic/sharia "justice", that would mean that sharia is no less corrupt than any other system of extortion, uhh... oppression, no, I mean system of "protection" (like...,like... the MAFIA?).

Why, who would ever accuse Islam of being a parasitic, criminal enterprise maintained by graft, theft, lies and violence? Surely the people who reported this story must be "Islamophobes" and bigots.

Thank you, David, for helping us see the real truth. We don't want to be, uhh... "Islamophobes" by ANY means.

KAFIR AND PROUD!!