Happy Easter

Good Christian men,rejoice and sing!
Now is the triumph of our King!
To all the world glad news we bring:
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord of life is risen today!
Sing songs of praise along his way;
let all the earth rejoice and say:
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Praise we in songs of victorythat love,
that life which cannot die,
and sing with hearts uplifted high:
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Your name we bless, O risen Lord,
and sing today with one accordthe
life laid down, the life restored:
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Sharia Law and Christianity

By John Vashahi

These days there is a lot of talk about sharia law. It is officially applied in a few countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Somalia. In other countries like Afghanistan and Iraq their constitutions are mainly based on sharia law.

What is sharia law?

Sharia is an Arabic word coming from the root word of share which means street. In Islamic literature word share Moghadas means God, means Holy Street, Main Street or main stream.

Sharia law is different for Shia and Sunni. For Shia the words of the entire 12 imam and Mohammad and all the laws in Quran are holy; they are laws that good Shia Muslims should obey. But in Sunni only the Quran and about 300 Hadith are important. There about a thousand more laws in Shia Islam.

The sharia law in Islam is based on the Old Testament. Both are against secularism.

Differences from Christianity

There are also laws in Christianity. They are summarised in the two main laws, to love God and to love your neighbour. Christianity allows for a development in morality and allows the secular world to breathe and grow up. This is the result of the civilisation that we have today. Jesus wanted to move on from a law based on revenge to one based on love and forgiveness.

Sharia law was something that stopped society from moving forward, with endless talk about what is wrong and right. Sharia law became a tool in the hands of the Jewish mullahs to punish their political opponents, like we see happening today in countries like Iran.

Is it possible to have sharia law alongside secular law?

The short answer is that it is impossible. For example, if we just wanted to have divorce and marriage law based on sharia law, there would be a big problem. Divorce involves making judgments and in Islam the witness of a woman is not equal to the witness of a man. Sometimes the same things which one man saw have to be seen by four women before they are accepted!!!

Surely the modern world cannot accept that. As the witnesses giving evidence are the most important part of court cases then it is against all modern law to have a court based on sharia law.

Besides that, the marriages of Muslim people already married are based on their faith values and traditions, and the law takes account of that. For example, all people who come from Muslim countries and claim they are married, have their marriage recognised and accepted here. This means Islamic marriage is accepted.

There is another problem in that it is possible to have several wives in Islam, but in secular law which derived from Christianity it is regarded as bigamy and is illegal.

A major problem is the inhuman side of sharia law, the amputation of hands of thieves and Rajm or stoning, also FGM (female genital mutilation which is female circumcision).

Case of FGM

In 1994, Egyptian Mufti Sheikh Jad Al-Hâqq 'Ali Jad Al-Hâqq issued a fatwa stating, "Circumcision is mandatory for men and for women. If the people of any village decide to abandon it, the village imam must fight against them as if they had abandoned the call to prayer.”

A 12 year-old Egyptian girl, Badour Shaker, died in June, 2007 during or soon after a circumcision, prompting the Egyptian Health Ministry to ban the practice. She died from an overdose of anesthesia. The girl's mother, Zeniab Abdel Ghani, paid $9.00 [or £5.00] to a female doctor, in an illegal clinic in the southern town of Maghagh, for the operation. The mother stated that the doctor tried to give her $3,000 to withdraw a lawsuit, but she refused.[i]

Sexual consequences

In the early 1980s, Hanny Lightfoot-Klein travelled throughout Sudan (where Type III is the prevalent form of FGC, ~90%) asking women who had undergone FGC how often they had experienced orgasm during intercourse.[60] Many of the women had no idea what an orgasm was.[ii]

Case of amputation

Amputation has happened in many different cases and it involves not only chopping off the hands or feet. It may include eyes, fingers, teeth, ears, nose, and tongue and so on.

A few weeks ago in the city of Zahedan, the Iranian government cut off the right hand and left leg of five Baluchi people.

Conclusion

From nearly 30 years of Islamic law in Iran we learn a very valuable human lesson as this experience has come at the cost of many lives. It clearly shows that Islamic law is not fit for modern life. We should learn from such experiences and not be thinking of repeating it again.

Without secular law based on Christianity, we will go back 2000 years.



[i] ^ a b "Death of 12-Year-Old Circumcised Girl Shocks Egypt, Prompts Ban on Rite", Associated Press, 2007-06-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.

[ii] ^ Female genital cutting: traditional practice or human rights violation?

When Islam did become involved in politics?

By John Vashahi

Some historians may say that it was as a result of oil and modern communication facilities that Islam came to power. Others would add the creation of Israel in the Middle East that made a huge effect on the Muslim world as awareness and involvement in politics grew. The Marxist movement added further direction during the Cold War. The story of the involvement Islam with political power goes back longer than that.

Historically Islam mixed with politics from the beginning, when Mohammad travelled or escaped from Mecca to Medina, then called yasreb, he established a government based on Sharia law.

Medina in Arabic coming from the world Madan which means civilisation.

Sharia law was nothing other than usual tribe’s law which was practiced in that area for long time. As Mohammad established the government, the fatal mix of power with religion had started. In the beginning every thing was much relaxed, wine was allowed, even sold in the market, music was practised, but as the government become more powerful, especially after finally capturing Mecca city, the rules become tougher and tougher.

It then said the most suspect view of Islam toward Christian that they believe in three gods. This was the result of a Christian Arab tribe situated in north of Medina, which really worshipped three gods. The effect of this was that all Christians were labelled in Islam as three god worshippers although in Christianity God is one.

Islam become powerful and started extending its territory. The Persian Empire fell and it shredded to Asia Minor and Central Asia, Harat and Balkh, the area called today north of Afghanistan which been a Buddhist area all become Muslims.
Sham or what called today Syria become Muslims, North Africa and so on.

Then from the beginning Islam was mixed with politics.

Modern times

The creation of Israel radicalised many Islamic movements. For example Akhwan Al Muslims or Muslim brotherhood established by Hassan Al Banna and sayed qutb in Egypt as result of that.

Along side of that Muslims always felt that they are not benefiting from oil and they feel that they colonised some how. This feeling came as result of strong Marxist movement in the region. As Marxist always did and were very good at it, they changed the history. And they blamed west for all the things, this was a boost with Arab nationalism movement in Egypt and mixed with feeling about occupation of philistine.

In Christianity

In Christianity there is no sharia law; Jesus did not establish any sort of government in political terms. Jesus came to save the souls. He even encouraged obeying Roman law by paying tax. As he died on the cross he showed the other attitude toward the power. Unique in history he used his power to wash mankind’s sins, not to governor them, as in real terms he is the governor.

Secularism is some how the mirror and reflection of Christianity. Secularism is reaction to the Christianity. If there was no Christianity, then there was not any secularism.