Moderate Islam? 75% of Muslims Want Sharia Law

There is a great article posted at Big Peace today exploring the op/ed in last Saturday's Wall street Journal Islam is Not Islamism. The must see chart in the article is this one from a 2007 study of Muslim opinion by researchers at the University of Maryland

Looking through the study, I found on page 16 that 20% or less of the Muslims in the four countries polled had a negative opinion of Bin Laden.

The Trouble with Burqas

As well as the obvious feminist complaints, burqas provide cover for male criminals with weapons. As the Wall Street Journal reports on recent events in Pakistan:

ISLAMABAD -- Islamic militants clad head-to-toe in women's burqas attempted to attack an oil-storage facility in Karachi, raising fears that insurgents are fleeing northwestern Pakistan and infiltrating the nation's main business hub.

Three gunmen disguised as women tried to enter the high-security terminal used by oil companies late Monday night, Waseem Ahmed, the city police chief, told Pakistani television on Tuesday. Police say they suspect the assailants disguised themselves as women to try to slip past security checkpoints.

Pakistani police officers examined weapons and ammunition left behind by attackers in Karachi, Pakistan, on Tuesday.

When stopped by security guards, the militants opened fire, killing one guard. The assailants fled during a gun battle, leaving behind the burqas, purses and hand grenades.

"We suspect they wanted to carry out a big terrorist attack which our prompt police action thwarted," said Mr. Ahmed in an interview with Geo TV Pakistan.

Pakistan imports foreign oil through the Karachi port, and stores it there before transporting it throughout the country. An attack on the port facility could have threatened the fuel supply for the country's industry and transport, just as Pakistan's economy is struggling to recover from the global downturn and security woes at home.

Later Tuesday, police arrested four men suspected of involvement in the attack. During a raid on a house in Karachi, where the arrests took place, police found additional burqas, women's handbags and weapons, Mr. Ahmed said in the television interview.

Police say the arrested men are suspected of having links to the militant group led by Baitullah Mehsud, the Taliban leader who was killed last month in a U.S. missile attack in South Waziristan. A large number of militants from Waziristan and other areas fleeing army attacks have been taking sanctuary in Karachi -- the capital of Sindh province -- according to Zulfikar Mirza, the Sindh provincial home minister.

Pakistan: Muslim forces 12 year old to convert and to marry him

I am posting this Compass Direct article because I think it is important for us to understand that Christians do not have equal rights in a country ruled by Islamic Law. The most import part of the story comes for me at the end:

Masih’s lawyer and other legal representatives said police and officials at the Municipal Corporation’s office, which keeps birth and death records, have been reluctant to help, saying that Huma had converted and that therefore there was no reason that she should be returned to non-Muslim parents.

The idea there is that being Muslim is better than being Christian. So, returning this kidnapped 12 year old girl who is now Muslim to her Christian family would be returning her to ignorance from enlightenment.

Here is the whole article:

Police ridicule Christian mother for kidnapping complaint; others demand money, labor.

LAHORE, Pakistan, June 4 (Compass Direct News) – The Christian mother of a 12-year-old girl in Punjab Province who was kidnapped, coerced into converting to Islam and forcibly married to a 37-year-old Muslim hopes to recover her daughter at a court hearing next week.

The reaction of Pakistani law enforcement authorities to Sajida Masih’s complaint so far – ridiculing her and asserting that there is nothing she can do because her daughter is now a Muslim – does not encourage her hopes of recovering her daughter Huma at next Thursday’s (June 11) hearing.

Masih said that Muhammad Imran abducted Huma at gunpoint on Feb. 23 from Hanif Kot village in Gujranwala district, forcibly converted her and then married her. Imran has since disappeared along with his first wife, three children and new child-bride.

Masih, who worked alongside Imran as a farmhand, said the kidnapping occurred on her son’s wedding day. Masih said that when she sent Huma and the child’s aunt out of their home to see if transportation had arrived for the wedding party, Imran – who had helped in preparing for the ceremony – was waiting and told her to sit on his motorbike.

Huma did not understand and, with her concerned aunt tightly holding her hand, she refused.

Masih’s attorney, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Imran took out a pistol and told Huma that he would shoot her as well as her parents if she did not obey; he also pointed the weapon at her aunt and said that he would kill her. Huma got onto the bike with him; her family has not seen her since.

Masih immediately ran to the owner of the farm where she and Imran work, Khan Buhadur, who told her to first finish the wedding and then see him in the evening. Masih’s attorney said that when she and relatives went to Buhadur after the ceremony, however, he said only that Imran had fled with his family along with the girl, and that he did not know where they were.

Suspecting that Buhadur was complicit in the kidnapping, Masih went to Sadar police station in Gujranwala. Police officers first ridiculed her, the attorney said, and then told her to go back to Buhadur because “only he could do something.” For several days officers and Buhadur shuttled her back and forth between them.

Unable to get police to register the case, Masih submitted a report with the help of a lawyer and took it to the police station, where officers consigned it to the dustbin.

Three days after the kidnapping, police finally registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Feb. 26 – but changed the age of the kidnapped girl from 12, as her mother reported, to 16. Moreover, Investigating Officer Niaz Khan told Masih that the FIR was useless since she was too poor to hire a lawyer, and that she should try to reach an out-of-court agreement with Buhadur – implying that he knew of the child’s whereabouts.

The Masih family learned from a friend of Imran, identified only as Javed, that Huma had converted to Islam and had married the fugitive father of three. Javed further said that Imran had told him police would do nothing as he had paid them 50,000 rupees (US$620).

The family subsequently received a court notice, the attorney said, stating that Imran had requested nullification of the FIR on Huma’s abduction, claiming she was an “adult” and had “willfully” converted to Islam and married him.

According to Huma’s birth certificate, issued by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Gujranwala, she was born on Oct. 22, 1996. The attorney said that Imran had submitted a fake birth certificate stating she was born on Dec. 23, 1990, which would make her 18 years old. The legal marriage age for girls in Pakistan is 16.

Only then did Masih obtain the services of the lawyer now handling the case, who is supported by the American Center for Law & Justice.

A hearing on the case had been scheduled for May 6, but because of a change of judge a new date was set for June 11. Unwilling to wait, the family and their lawyer went with a court bailiff to a factory owned by Buhadur in Gujranwala on May 14, hoping to get help in recovering Huma, but Buhadur did not cooperate.

Buhadur had been demanding that Masih pay him 100,000 rupees (US$1,240) that she had supposedly borrowed from him, but this demand only surfaced after the kidnapping – an implied attempt to extort money from her in exchange for information on the whereabouts of her daughter, according to the lawyer. Buhadur withdrew this pressure on Masih after the visit from the court bailiff and efforts by the attorney.

At a meeting of villagers on May 16 at the Sadar police station, Buhadur said that Imran owed him money and that he would inform officers if he learned anything of his whereabouts.

Another land owner, Karamat Ali Saroyya, subsequently called Masih saying that Huma was in Muridke, near Lahore, but when Masih and her lawyer set out again and met with Muridke police, they were unable to find her.

Saroyya later demanded that Masih work his fields for one year in order to get her daughter back.

Masih’s lawyer and other legal representatives said police and officials at the Municipal Corporation’s office, which keeps birth and death records, have been reluctant to help, saying that Huma had converted and that therefore there was no reason that she should be returned to non-Muslim parents.

END

Hat Tip: Christian Persecution Blog

Famous Pakistani Rape Victim Becomes 2nd Wife of Constable

Mukhtar Mai (AKA Mukharan Bibi), the brave woman who was gang raped in a tribal punishment and successfully challenged the rapist in court, has been manipulated into marrying a man who was assigned to protect her. While the marriage is being characterized by the the New York Times as further shattering the stigma against rape victims:

By marrying, she has defeated another stigma against rape victims in conservative Pakistani society.

the facts in further paragraphs of the article indicate she has been manipulated into the marriage:

Mr. Gabol had a hard time persuading Ms. Mukhtar to marry. He had been calling her off and on since 2003 but formally proposed a year and a half ago, she said. “But I told my parents I don’t want to get married.”

Finally, four months ago, he tried to kill himself by taking sleeping pills. “The morning after he attempted suicide, his wife and parents met my parents but I still refused,” Ms. Mukhtar said.

Mr. Gabol then threatened to divorce his first wife, Shumaila.

Ms. Shumaila, along with Mr. Gabol’s parents and sisters, tried to talk Ms. Mukhtar into marrying him, taking on the status of second wife. In Pakistan, a man can legally have up to four wives.

It was her concern about Ms. Shumaila, Ms. Mukhtar said, that moved her to relent.

“I am a woman and can understand the pain and difficulties faced by another woman,” Ms. Mukhtar said. “She is a good woman.”

In the end, Ms. Mukhtar put a few conditions on Mr. Gabol. He had to transfer the ownership of his ancestral house to his first wife, agree to give her a plot of land and a monthly stipend of roughly $125.

Asked if she had plans to leave her village to live with her husband in his village, Ms. Mukhtar said no. “I have seen pain and happiness in Meerwala. I cannot think of leaving this place.”

Her husband, she said, “can come here whenever he wants and finds it convenient.”

Remember that in Islam, the man can divorce his wife at any time by merely saying "I divorce you" three times. He is only obligated to provide her with financial support for six months after the divorce. So, Mukhtaran Bibi has taken pity on the first wife of the constable and negotiated for her financial security. But also remember that Islam requires a wife to submit to her husband's sexual desires at any time. So Mukhtaran Bibi ensured the man's first wife financial security, but only by agreeing to be the man's wife, ie, subject to the sexual desires of this man whenever he wishes. Seems like she has been manipulated into being a rape victim for the rest of her life.

Pakistan: Sufi Shrine Bombed by Taliban

We can see the fault lines between militant Islam and Sufi Islam in the recent bombing in Peshwar of the mausoleum of the 17th-century poet Abdul Rehman, commonly known as Rehman Baba. Islamic militants had sent a letter to the management of the mausoleum warning against "shrine culture" and noting that women were coming to the shrine. The local Pakistan Daily Times identifies the Islamic militants as Taliban:

Police told Daily Times that the Taliban planted the explosives and then jumped over a wall of the shrine to escape.

While militant Islam is focused on imposing external compliance with Islamic Law, Sufism is focused on the "laws of the heart", an individual's internal state such that one does not defy God and actions are motivated by the of love of God, Islamic militant see Sufism as violating Islamic law when shrines of Sufi mystics become locations of prayer. Islamic militants see this as elevating humans to "consort" with God. In Islam, Allah has no consort. Traditionally this had been understood to dispute the claims of Christians that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. However, it is applied to any elevation of a human to supernatural status.

Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch calls attention to the US blog post out of North Carolina that celebrates the bombing as "great news", referring to those who visited the site as "shirk". This blogger includes this quotation on the post:

And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah more (than anything else). If only, those who do wrong could see, when they will see the torment, that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is Severe in punishment. (Al-Baqarah:165)

According to Robert:

Shirk = associating partners with Allah, i.e., worshiping others besides Allah.

It may also be that the Islamic militants objected to the women mixing with men at the shrine, as the issue of women was specifically mentioned in the letter.

Hat Tip: Women Against Shariah

Pakistan: Taliban Claim Umarried Women as War Booty in Swat

What more evidence do we need to understand that the Taliban has won in Swat? Dawn is reporting:

The Swat Taliban have also announced that families with unmarried females should come forward in mosques so that the women/girls may be married off – to the Taliban. Or else, they are to be forcibly married (read raped).

Hat Tip Women Against Shariah

Pakistan: Taliban's Sharia Law Now Official in Swat?

Last month I had a post on the Taliban imposing a parallel legal system in Swat of harsh Islamic law, in opposition to the local police, regional government and national military. Now it looks like the Islamic law will be official, as AP is reporting that the Pakistani government has made a "Peace deal" with the Taliban that is conditioned by the Taliban on imposition of Islamic law (Sharia) in Swat.

Provincial government leaders confirmed they were talking to a pro-Taliban group about ways to impose Islamic judicial practices in the Malakand division, which includes Swat.

The Swat Taliban's version of Islamic law is especially harsh. They have declared a ban on female education, forced women to stay mostly indoors and clamped down on many forms of entertainment.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the militants would adhere to any deal reached with the group if Islamic law is implemented in the region.
He also announced the 10-day cease-fire.

"We reserve the right to retaliate if we are fired upon," he said. "Once Islamic law is imposed, there will be no problems in Swat. The Taliban will lay down their arms."

Hat Tip Islam in Action

Pakistan: Taliban's Sharia Judges Order Beatings, Executions

The Sunday edition of the Times Online has an article on sharia justice coming to Pakistan:

More than 70 Taliban courts are now ruling on hundreds of cases of “immoral activity” every week in the Swat valley, whose mountains, lakes and meadows were once a draw for tourists.

The article notes how the implementation is done in stages:

One Taliban judge in the Kooza Bandai region boasted that he had ruled on 55 cases in the past week. Almost all the decisions are verbal and there are no formal procedures.

The emergence of a parallel Taliban legal system has a sinister objective. “This is our first step towards the implementation of sharia in Swat,” said Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman. In the next phase, Khan said, the courts would begin to carry out harsher punishments, such as execution or chopping off hands.

Villagers said the Taliban were already killing people who defied their orders. “They didn’t even spare barbers and women coming out of markets without wearing their veils,” said a Mingora resident.

There have been 51 Taliban executions since the start of the year, he added. The victims include politicians, security men, dancers, prostitutes and shopkeepers selling alcohol.

We should be very careful of allowing any encroachment of sharia because it will not be viewed as enough, but rather a foot in the door.
Read it all here.