I know this is an old thread, but I found an interesting paper covering specifically Sharia law and the perceived threat it poses (or will eventually) to non-muslim religions and political systems.
Here is the source:
http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.o...2009142010.pdf
Here is an excerpt on the joys of Sharia Law:
The following are some of the most important – and, particularly for Western non-Muslims, deeply
problematic – tenets of shariah, arranged in alphabetical order. The citations drawn from the Quran, schools
of Islam and other recognized sources are offered as illustrative examples of the basis for such practices under
shariah.
1. Abrogation (‘Al-mansukh wa al-nasikh’ in Arabic—the abrogated and the abrogating):
verses that come later in the Quran, chronologically, supersede, or abrogate,
the earlier ones. In effect, this results in the more moderate verses of the Meccan period
being abrogated by the later, violent, Medinan verses. “When we cancel a message,
or throw it into oblivion, we replace it with one better or one similar. Do you
not know that God has power over all things?” (Quran 2:106)
2. Adultery (‘Zina’ in Arabic): unlawful intercourse is a capital crime under shariah,
punishable by lashing and stoning to death. “Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a
shameful deed and an evil, opening the road to other evils.” (Q 17:32) “The woman
and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with a hundred
stripes; let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if
ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness the punishment.”
(Q 24:2) “It is not lawful to shed the blood of a Muslim except for one of
three sins: a married person committing fornication, and in just retribution for premeditated
murder, and [for sin of treason involving] a person renouncing Islam, and
thus leaving the community [to join the enemy camp in order to wage war against
the faithful].” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and An-Nasa’i)
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3. Apostasy (‘Irtidad’ or ‘Ridda’ in Arabic): The established ruling of shariah is that
apostates are to be killed wherever they may be found. “Anyone who, after accepting
Faith in Allah, utters Unbelief, except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in
Faith—but such as open their heart to Unbelief—on them is Wrath from Allah, and
theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.” (Q 16:106) “Some atheists were brought to Ali
and he burnt them. The news of this event, reached Ibn Abbas who said, ‘If I had
been in his place, I would not have burnt them, as Allah's messenger forbade it, saying,
‘Do not punish anybody with Allah's punishment (fire).’ I would have killed
them according to the statement of Allah’s Messenger, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic
religion, then kill him.’” (Bukhari, Volume 9, #17)
“Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst…..When a person
who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostasizes from Islam, he deserves
to be killed…There is no indemnity for killing an apostate…” (‘Umdat al-Salik, Reliance
of the Traveler, Chapter 08.0-08.4)
4. Democracy & Islam: Any system of man-made law is considered illicit under Islamic
law, for whose adherents Allah already has provided the only law permitted,
shariah. Islam and democracy can never co-exist in harmony. “And if any fail to
judge by the light of what Allah has revealed, they are no better than unbelievers.”
(Q 5:47) “Sovereignty in Islam is the prerogative of Almighty Allah alone. He is the
absolute arbiter of values and it is His will that determines good and evil, right and
wrong.” (Mohammed Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 3d rev. ed.,
(Cambridge, UK: The Islamic Text Society, 2003), 8.)
“The shariah cannot be amended to conform to changing human values and standards.
Rather, it is the absolute norm to which all human values and conduct must
conform.” (Muslim Brotherhood ‘spiritual leader’ Yousef al-Qaradawi)
5. Female Genital Mutilation: “Circumcision is obligatory….for both men and
women.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, e4.3)
6. Gender Inequality: Shariah explicitly relegates women to a status inferior to men.
• Testimony of a woman before a judge is worth half that of a man: “And get two
witnesses, not of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and
two women, such as ye choose for witnesses.” (Q 2:282)
• Women are to receive just one half the inheritance of a male: “Allah thus directs
you as regards your children’s inheritance: to the male, a portion equal to that of
two females….” (Q 4:11)
• Muslim men are given permission by Allah in the Quran to beat their wives: “As
to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill conduct, admonish them
first, next refuse to share their beds, and last, beat them.” (Q 4:34)
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• Muslim men are given permission by Allah to commit marital rape, as they
please: “Your wives are as a tilth unto you, so approach your tilth when or how
ye will….” (Q 2: 223)
• Muslim men are permitted to marry up to four wives and to keep concubines in
any number: “…Marry women of your choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye
fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with them, then only one, or a captive
that your right hands possess…” (Q 4:3)
• Muslim women may marry only one Muslim man and are forbidden from marrying
a non-Muslim: “And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-
Mushrikun [non-Muslims] till they believe in Allah alone and verily a believing
slave is better than a (free) Mushrik, even though he pleases you....” (Q 2:221)
• A woman may not travel outside the home without the permission of her male
guardian and must be accompanied by a male family member if she does so: “A
woman may not leave the city without her husband or a member of her unmarriageable
kin….accompanying her, unless the journey is obligatory, like the hajj.
It is unlawful for her to travel otherwise, and unlawful for her husband to allow
her.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, m10.3)
• Under shariah, to bring a claim of rape, a Muslim woman must present four male
Muslim witnesses in good standing. Islam thus places the burden of avoiding illicit
sexual encounters entirely on the woman. In effect, under shariah, women
who bring a claim of rape without being able to produce the requisite four male
Muslim witnesses are admitting to having had illicit sex. If she or the man is married,
this amounts to an admission of adultery. The following Quranic passages,
while explicitly applying to men are cited by shariah authorities and judges in adjudicating
rape cases: "And those who accuse free women then do not bring four
witnesses (to adultery), flog them..." (Q 24:4) “Why did they not bring four witnesses
to prove it? When they have not brought the witnesses, such men, in the
sight of Allah, stand forth themselves as liars!” (Q 24:13)
• A Muslim woman who divorces and remarries loses custody of children from a
prior marriage: “A woman has no right to custody of her child from a previous
marriage when she remarries because married life will occupy her with fulfilling
the rights of her husband and prevent her from tending the child.” (‘Umdat al-
Salik, m13.4)
7. ‘Honor’ Killing (aka Muslim family executions): A Muslim parent faces no legal
penalty under Islamic law for killing his child or grandchild: “…not subject to retaliation”
is “a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring,
or offspring’s offspring.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, 01.1-2)
8. Hudud Punishments: The plural of hadd, is “a fixed penalty prescribed as a right of
Allah. Because hudud penalties belong to Allah, Islamic law does not permit them to
be waived or commuted.”69
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• “Let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if
you believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of believers witness their
punishment.” (Qur’an 24:2)
• “On that account, We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a
[Muslim] person—unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the
land—it would be as if he slew the whole people….The punishment of those
who wage war against Allah and his apostle, and strive with might and main for
mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands
and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land…” (Q 32-33)
• § p0.0. From the Kitab al-kaba’ir (Book of Enormities) of Imam Dhahabi, who
defines an enormity as any sin entailing either a threat of punishment in the hereafter
explicitly mentioned by the Koran or hadith, a prescribed legal penalty
(Hadd), or being accursed by Allah or His messenger (Allah bless him & give
him peace). (‘Umdat al-Salik, Book P “Enormities,” at § p0.0)
• “Shariah stipulates these punishments and methods of execution such as amputation,
crucifixion, flogging, and stoning, for offenses such as adultery, homosexuality,
killing without right, theft, and ‘spreading mischief in the land’ because
these punishments were mandated by the Qur’an or Sunnah.” (Islamic Hudood
Laws in Pakistan, Edn 1996, 5.)
9. Islamic Supremacism: belief that Islam is superior to every other culture, faith,
government, and society and that it is ordained by Allah to conquer and dominate
them: “And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted
from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers.” (Q 3:85):
• “Ye are the best of Peoples, evolved for mankind.” (Q 3:110)
• Non-Muslims are “the most vile of created beings” (Q 98:6)
• Be “merciful to one another, but ruthless to the unbelievers” (Q 48:29)
• “It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on
all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” (Hassan al-Banna, founder
of the Muslim Brotherhood)
• “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant.
The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted
religion on Earth.” (Omar Ahmad, Council on American Islamic Relations
co-founder/Board Chairman, 1998)
10. Jew Hatred: Antisemitism is intrinsic to shariah and is based on the genocidal behavior
of Mohammed himself in wiping out the entire Jewish population of the Arabian
Peninsula.
• “And certainly you have known those among you who exceeded the limits of the
Sabbath, as we said to them: Be as apes, despised and hated.” (Q 2:65)
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• “And you will most certainly find them [the Jews] the greediest of men for life,
greedier than even those who are polytheists…” (Q 2:96)
• “O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; for
they are friends but of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a
friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.”
(Q 5:51)
• “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden
which hath been forbidden by Allah and his apostle, nor acknowledge the religion
of truth, even if they be of the People of the Book [Christians and Jews], until
they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.” (Q
9:29)
11. Jihad: Jihad is warfare to spread Islam:
• “Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer
them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war…” (Q 9:5)
• “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, not hold that forbidden
by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from
among the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission
and feel themselves subdued.” (Q 9:29)
• “So fight them until there is no more fitna and all submit to the religion of Allah
alone.” (Q 8:39)
• “I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god
but Allah and that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the
prayer, and pay the zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions
from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning
is with Allah” (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim – agreed upon – as cited in
‘Umdat al-Salik o9.1 Jihad)
• “Jihad means to wage war against non-Muslims and is etymologically derived
from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion.” (‘Umdat
al-Salik, o9.0, Jihad)
• “Islam makes it incumbent on all adult males, provided they are not disabled or
incapacitated, to prepare themselves for the conquest of [other] countries so
that the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country in the world....But those who
study Islamic Holy War will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole
world….Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against
war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as
they would kill you all!
• “Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the
unbelievers]? Islam says: Kill them [the non-Muslims], put them to the sword
and scatter [their armies]. Does this mean sitting back until [non-Muslims]
overcome us? Islam says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill
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you! Does this mean that we should surrender [to the enemy]? Islam says:
Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the
sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is
the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are
hundreds of other [Qur'anic] psalms and Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet] urging
Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion
that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make
such a claim.” (Ayatollah Khomeini as quoted by Amir Taheri.70)
12. Lying/Taqiyya: It is permissible for a Muslim to lie, especially to non-Muslims, to
safeguard himself personally or to protect Islam.
• “Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers, and
whoever does that, will never be helped by Allah in any way, unless you indeed
fear a danger from them. And Allah warns you against Himself, and to Allah is
the final return.” (Q 3:28)
• “‘Unless you indeed fear a danger from them’ meaning, except those believers who
in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case,
such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but
never inwardly.…‘We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse
them.’” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol 2, 141)
• “Mohammed said, ‘War is deceit.’” (Bukhari vol.4:267 and 269)
• “He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or
saying good things, is not a liar.” (Bukhari vol.3:857 p.533)
13. Slander/Blasphemy: In shariah, slander means anything that might offend a Muslim:
“… The reality of tale-bearing lies in divulging a secret, in revealing something
confidential whose disclosure is resented. A person should not speak of anything he
notices about people besides that which benefits a Muslim to relate or prevent disobedience.”
(‘Umdat al-Salik, r3.1)
14. Underage Marriage: Islamic doctrine permits the marriage of pre-pubescent girls.
There is no minimum age for a marriage contract and consummation may take place
when the girl is age eight or nine.
• “And those of your women as have passed the age of monthly courses [periods],
for them the 'Iddah [prescribed period before divorce is final], if you have
doubts (about their periods), is three months, and for those who have no courses
[(i.e. they are still immature) their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is three months
likewise, except in case of death]. And for those who are pregnant (whether they
are divorced or their husbands are dead), their 'Iddah (prescribed period) is until
they deliver (their burdens), and whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to
Him, He will make his matter easy for him.” (Q 65:4)
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• “Aisha narrated: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he
consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained
with him for nine years (i.e., till his death).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 7, Book 62,
Number 64; see also Numbers 65 and 88)“They may not have menstruated as
yet either because of young age, or delayed menstrual discharge as it happens in
the case of some women, or because of no discharge at all throughout life which,
though rare, may also be the case. In any case, the waiting-period of such a
woman is the same as of the woman, who has stopped menstruation, that is,
three months from the time divorce was pronounced.
• “Here, one should bear in mind the fact that, according to the explanations given
in the Qur'an, the question of the waiting period arises in respect of the women
with whom marriage may have been consummated, for there is no waitingperiod
in case divorce is pronounced before the consummation of marriage. (Al-
Ahzab: 49). Therefore, making mention of the waiting-period for girls who have
not yet menstruated, clearly proves that it is not only permissible to give away
the girl at this age but it is permissible for the husband to consummate marriage
with her. Now, obviously no Muslim has the right to forbid a thing which the
Qur’an has held as permissible.” (Syed Abu-Ala’ Maududi, Towards Understanding
the Qur’an, volume 5, p. 620, note 13)
15. Zakat: the obligation for Muslims to pay zakat arises out of Qur’an Verse 9:60 and
is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat may be given only to Muslims, never to non-
Muslims.
• Zakat is for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the
(funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth); for
those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is
it) ordained by Allah, and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom. (Q 9:60) “Of
their goods take alms so that thou mightiest purify and sanctify them....” (Q
9:103) “Zakat is obligatory: (a) for every free Muslim and (b) who has possessed
a zakat-payable amount [the minimum that necessitates zakat] (‘Umdat
al-Salik, h1.1)
• According to shariah, there are eight categories of recipients for Zakat: The
poor; Those short of money; Zakat workers (those whose job it is to collect the
zakat); Those whose hearts are to be reconciled; Those purchasing their freedom;
Those in debt; Those fighting for Allah (Jihad); Travelers needing money
(‘Umdat al-Salik, h8.7-h8.18)
• “It is not permissible to give Zakat to a non-Muslim…” (‘Umdat al-Salik, h8.24)