Showing posts with label Shari'ah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shari'ah. Show all posts

Thursday, May 03, 2007

What a Wonderless World It Will Be

In the past years, especially in the last ten years, Islam has been furiously putting down roots here in the West. Unfortunately, our leaders and politicians have been too ignorant and craven to stem the tide. As a result, we now learn that Islam has grown so strong here in the United Kingdom so that Shari’ah law is being established in the country in centres of dense Muslim population.

Our leaders’ ignorance of Islam, their greed to attract petrodollars, and the prevailing Zeitgeist, caused namely by the indoctrination of the population at large by the politically-correct and multicultural fanatics, have all made for an inured and rudderless electorate. The people are powerless to do anything about the trend, and the powerful lack the will and determination to do anything about it anyway.

For many, in an increasingly globalized world, the ‘mighty buck’ trumps all principles. In an increasingly secular, Western world, it is greed that trumps all. It’s a case of live for today, become as rich as possible, and damn the consequences.

If this trend continues, and as things stand it is difficult to see any reason why it won’t, then we have a lot of changes to look forward to, and our children and grandchildren are not going to thank us for not reclaiming our own heritage: Our Judeo-Christian heritage.

In view of all this, it is worthwhile taking a peek into the future, in order to see what kind of world we are going to inhabit if Islam really is going to supplant Judeo-Christianity in the West.

One thing is certain: It’s going to be a joyless world. It’s also going to be a benighted world, too. It is for this main reason that I entitled my first book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age.

Most of us are, by now, familiar with many features of Islamic societies. We are all familiar with the barbarous beheadings that take place, officially, in such countries as Saudi Arabia. We are all familiar with the cutting off of limbs for theft, and the stoning of women to death for adultery (though interestingly, rarely, if ever, men).

But there is far more to a life under Islamic, or Shari’ah law, much more to life under Islam. There is no doubt at all that the growth of Islam here in the West will impact on us all, and in many unsuspecting ways.

For a start, Islam breeds benighted thinking; Muslims, in general, are a pretty unenlightened lot: superstitious, and believing of all manner of conspiracies and rumour, and very accepting of the unscientific and unproven.

It is not without reason that Muslims today are in a state of backwardness. They have embraced technology, it’s true; but what contributions have Muslims made to the advancement of the modern world? Where Muslims have indeed made significant contributions, then they have generally made those contributions in a Western environment, having enjoyed a Western education. Many of those that have contributed have left Islam anyway.

It is no co-incidence, either, that few contributions have been made. Scientific advancement requires an open, enquiring mind, not a mind flooded with superstition and flooded in beliefs that are outdated and downright wrong.

So what kind of life will it be? Many things will change. Women will become the objects of men. They will probably be driven back into the home, too. Society will become patriarchal. It will be very much a man’s world.

Women, of course, will be forced to cover up their “charms”. The hijab will be de rigueur for all women after the age of puberty since it will be mandatory. This will lead to prurience in society. Moreover, it will be frowned upon for men to wear bright colours, or solid gold rings and jewellery, or pure silk. There will be pressure on men to keep their hair short, and the wearing of the Islamic beard in the style of the Prophet Muhammad will be encouraged, if not forced upon men. In any case, because the thinking of the day will change significantly, facial hair will become almost a must for men. (Remember: In the Muslim world, a clean-shaven man is considered to be effeminate.)

The drinking of alcoholic beverages will, of course, be outlawed. By drinking it, one will incur the wrath of the morality police or, as they are called in Saudi Arabia, The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. You will almost certainly be subjected to a good lashing for partaking of the Devil's brew. And if you think that such things will never come to pass in a Western country such as the UK or Germany, then think again. How many Christians in pre-Islamic Egypt thought that Islam would oust the then prevailing Christian culture in that country, I wonder? It is worth remembering that each and every country in which Islam has been allowed to gain a foothold, it has eventually supplanted that country’s culture with Islamic culture! There is only one exception to this rule and that was in Moorish Spain. But for the Spaniards to reclaim their country, it took centuries of hostility.

Criminals will suffer the fate of a beheading in the public square. Muslims always like to show the man being decapitated for they feel that this in itself will act as a deterrent for other would be criminals.

Churches in this new world order will be either destroyed or left to go to wrack and ruin. Even to this day in Turkey, the small, minority Christian population there are not allowed to renew and refurbish their churches and nor are they allowed to offer seminary education for their priests. All men wishing to go into the priesthood must be educated abroad. In any case, a Christian in an Islamic country is very much a second-class citizen, and if Islam should ever take over the West, the Christian will be forced to live in dhimmitude.

The eating of pork, of course will be a thing of the past, as will cooking with wines or spirits. So many of our favourite gourmet recipes will simply disappear.

Architecture will change too. The influence of Islam will certainly make its influence felt in this area. But there is something else: The styles of our houses will change greatly. Open plan buildings and houses without high garden walls will not be desired. High walls allow Muslim men to hide their women from public view. They also allow Muslims to do all the things they are disallowed from doing in public, things such as drinking alcohol.

Homophobia will be the order of the day. All Muslims have to be homophobic, because Islam frowns upon homosexuality, and as Islam is so pervasive, it is difficult, if not well-nigh impossible, to express one’s opinions in favour of equality for homosexuals openly. But in reality, there is much homosexual activity in the Islamic world. Certainly no less than there is in the Western world. This double standard is brought about because Islam fosters such a closed, closetted society. Furthermore, it should be noted that because of the strict separation of the sexes, people living in such a world tend become very prurient. Only today in the Saudi Gazette, it has been reported that Saudi men are addicted to pornography on the Web. This is hardly surprising when co-mingling with members of the opposite sex is so difficult in the real world. Western society will also become so inclined when Islam grows ever stronger here.

As I have stated so many times before, Islam and the West are diametrically-opposed to each other in all kinds of ways; indeed, they are two distinct, immiscible, cultures. There is no half way house to be: either Islam wins through, or the free West does. Like any lover of freedom and democracy, I’m hoping for the victory of the latter, but I’m not holding my breath. Given current demographic trends, and given the lack of will and determination to preserve the way of life of the free, anything can happen. We haven’t seen the worst yet. One thing is certain: There will be little joy for the ordinary citizen living under Islam and Shari’ah law; indeed, it will be a ‘wonderless’ world for us all.

©Mark Alexander

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Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Muslim radicals establishing Shari’ah law in UK

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Photo courtesy of The Daily Express
DAILY EXPRESS: MUSLIM radicals have established their own draconian court systems in Britain.

Controversial Sharia courts have been set up in major towns and cities to impose Islamic law and enable Muslims to shun the legitimate British legal system.

Last night religious leaders and politicians expressed outrage that Sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in our society.

Critics insisted that the Govern­ment is allowing a two-tier legal system to flourish in the name of political correctness and that the authority of UK justice is being undermined. Now Muslims get their own laws in Britain (Read on) by Paul Jeeves

Mark Alexander

Friday, April 27, 2007

More Signs of West’s Capitulation to Islam and Shari’ah in Economic Markets

FINANCIAL TIMES: The British government will announce on Monday that it is set to become the first western state to issue Islamic bonds, seeking to meet what it believes is a significant demand for this financial product both inside and outside the UK.

In what ministers believe will be an important gesture to Britain’s Muslim community, the Treasury will say Monday that it is paving the way for the launch of the first Sharia compliant UK government bonds by 2008.

The move, to be announced by Ed Balls, the City of London minister, is unprecedented by any western state.

Sharia compliant bonds have hitherto been issued by the governments of Pakistan and Malaysia and also by corporate issuers around the world, but never by a western state.

The UK will not only be looking to issue these government bonds on wholesale financial markets. It will also be looking at using Sharia compliant bonds to allow Muslims in Britain to invest in domestic National Savings products through banks and post offices. UK to issue west’s first Islamic bonds (Read on) by James Blitz and Gillian Tett

Mark Alexander

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Shari’ah law: What lies behind it?

Shari’ah is the detailed code of conduct of the faithful, or the canons comprising ways and modes of worship. Remember that Islam asks the faithful to live a life of obedience and submission to their Lord, Allah.

Shari’ah also sets the standards of morals and life and laws, laws which allow this, or proscribe that. This is the judgement between right and wrong. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the final prophet of Allah, and they believe that the final codified law, as-Shari'ah, is the body of law which is applicable for all of mankind and for all time.

The sources of Shari’ah are the Qur’an and Ahadith, or ‘the sayings of the prophet Muhammad'. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a divine revelation. Further, they believe that the Qur’an is made up of the literal and actual words of Allah. Ahadith, or ‘the sayings of the prophet Muhammad’, are made up of instructions issued by Muhammad, or the memoirs of Muhammad’s conduct and behaviour. They are preserved by those who were present in his company, or by those who were handed down this guidance by the first witnesses. The collections of Ahadith were made by Malik, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah. These are the Ahadith which are considered to be the most authentic.

Fiqh, or detailed law derived from the Qur’an and Ahadith, may be broken down into four major schools of thought. They are: Fiqh Hanafi, Fiqh Maliki, Fiqh Shafi’i, and Fiqh Hanbali. These four schools took final shape within two hundred years after the death of the prophet. All four schools of thought are considered to be correct and true, regardless of which school of thought a Muslim belongs to. It’s all a matter of interpretation.

Fiqh deals with observable conduct and the fulfilment of the obligations of Islam to the letter of the law. Tasawwuf, by contrast, deals with the spirit of a Muslim’s conduct. Tasawwuf, in its true sense, is an intense love of Allah and Muhammad. The love of both requires strict obedience to Allah and Muhammad’s commands as written in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, or the way of the prophet of Allah.

People can be divided into two types: those who go astray wilfully; and those who go astray out of ignorance. As-Shari’ah, or the Sharia, meets the need of separating these two types of people.

As-Shari’ah forbids all that is ‘harmful’ to man and ordains all that is useful to him.

The scheme of life which Islam envisions consists of a set of rights and obligations. Muslims are asked to live up to these. These rights and obligations are as follows:

1. The rights of Allah: the primary right being that man should have faith in him and in him alone; and that man should accept his guidance (Hidayah) and seek his pleasure with heart, mind, and soul. Further, man should obey Allah, honestly and unreservedly; and he must worship him, and him alone.

2. One's own rights: The Shari’ah forbids those things which are injurious to man’s physical, mental, or moral existence.

3. Other men’s rights: Other people’s rights should not be violated. Hence, adultery, fornication and unnatural sexual pleasures have been strictly forbidden.

a. To preserve morality, the free co-mingling of the sexes has been forbidden. Further, man has been asked to lower his gaze when he comes into contact with women.
b. ‘Proper’ dress should always be worn. A man should not expose any part of his body between his knees and his navel. A woman should expose no part of her body other than her hands and her face. Except, that is, to her husband. This is a religious duty for every woman.
c. Islam does not approve of pastimes, entertainments, or recreations which stimulate the senses. They are a waste of time, money, and energy, and they destroy morality in society.
d. Believers are required to avoid mutual hostility in order to safeguard the unity and solidarity of the Ummah.
e. Muslims must seek out knowledge and science for the common good, but Muslims are forbidden from aping the mode of living of the non-Muslim.

4. The rights of all creatures: Each animal has its own rights, as do vegetables.

The law of Islam, as-Shari’ah, is eternal. It is said not to be based on the customs or the traditions of any particular people, and nor is it meant for a particular time in the history of the world; rather, it is one body of laws for man for all time, in the same way that Muslims believe that Islam is the universal religion for man for all time, the religion is for an eternity.

[Source: Abul A'la Mawdudi: Towards Understanding Islam]

©Mark Alexander

Friday, March 23, 2007

By giving tax advantages for Shariah-compliant finance in his budget, Brown starts turning the world of finance Islamic green!

The chancellor has introduced legislation which will now treat these Sukuk transactions as being similar to conventional bond transactions, thereby removing the tax disadvantage for its use.

This change should lead to a sharp increase in the usage of these kinds of Islamic financing instruments - not only by businesses which want to be Shariah-compliant, but also by other businesses which want to diversify their investor base and tap into the immense pool of Islamic finance in the oil rich Middle East.

The chancellor has not only created the framework for London to emerge as the leader in the global Islamic finance industry but his changes are likely to be replicated in many other countries.

Islamic finance will move from being niche to the mainstream as a viable and valid financing option for all.
- Darshan Bijur


BBC: Changes to the tax system unveiled in the Budget will potentially make the UK a key world centre in the development of Islamic finance - a market currently estimated to be worth $400bn globally.

Islamic finance is based on Islamic principles and jurisprudence (Shariah).

The basic Shariah prohibitions are on the earning (or payment) of interest, speculation, contractual uncertainly and transactions which are overly advantageous to one party at the expense of another.

The Shariah also prohibits any participation in weapons, pork, gambling, pornography and alcohol businesses.

Overcoming most of these prohibitions is very difficult in the conventional finance system.

The Islamic finance industry has thus developed various Shariah-compliant structures in order to provide investment opportunities and to meet the financing needs of businesses and investors who want to comply with the Shariah. Islamic finance: From niche to mainstream by Darshan Bijur

Mark Alexander