THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 258, October 7, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
"SHARIA IS HATE"
By Supna Zaidi
THE U.S.A. & THE WEST UNDER ISLAMIC LAW: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, CONSTITUTIONAL
DEMOCRACY & TOLERANCE, IF SHARIA & ISLAMISM SPREAD TO THE WESTERN WORLD -- HOW ISLAMISTS WOULD
GOVERN THE WORLDWIDE MUSLIM UMMAH -- HOW WOMEN & NON-MUSLIMS WOULD BE TREATED -- ISLAMISM AS A
TOTALITARIAN IDEOLOGY
FULL STORY:
Imagine Dodger Stadium full of loud and whooping fans cheering on, not baseball, but your weekly stoning and flogging
of adulterers, thieves, and other errant citizens of southern California.
This would be America under Islamic law, or Shari'a, a system that everyone should fear. Or so, Alan Kornman, Director of
the United American Committee (UAC) thinks. He continues to fundraise for a freeway billboard in Florida stating, "Shari'a
Is Hate," to educate America before it's too late.
Kornman argues:
". . . under Shari'a law, if you are accused of stealing, a hand and
foot from opposite sides are amputated. If you are caught having
an affair, the woman is stoned to death and the man is given 80
lashes. If you change religions, you can be charged under
apostasy laws and given the death sentence by a legal Sharia
court."
The implementation of Shari'a is much more subtle than the quotation from Kornman suggests, however.
Through Shari'a, Islamists govern the private lives of individuals, as well as regulate the social, political, and economic
aspects of society. Islamism crosses national borders, with the final goal of asserting the Muslim Ummah -- the Muslim
Community, or Islamic Nation -- globally, with all non-Muslims governed and treated as second class citizens. Islamism
is a totalitarian ideology, and Islamists do want to make Europe and the U.S.A. Islamist regions within a worldwide
Muslim sovereign state.
Don't wait for floggings in your local neighborhood. Consider the following incidences:
1. Muslim cab drivers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, refusing fares where would-be passengers are carrying alcohol
because it is a sin to drink in Islam.
This first example exemplifies the lack of tolerance Islamists have for non-Muslims.
It is one thing to believe drinking is a sin; it's quite another to enforce your opinion
on others. Muslims aren't alone in this belief. Consider Mormons, who don't drink
coffee because of the caffeine. The problem is the belief that you have the right to
impose your opinion on people of a different faith, or no faith at all.
The Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC), possibly fearing charges of
discrimination, tried to compromise and approached Kahlid Elmasry of the Muslim
American Society, who sided with the cabbies: "it is expressly stated transportation
of alcohol for Muslims is against the Islamic faith, and therefore forbidden."
But this is not an Islamic country. The Constitution of the United States governs us,
not Shari'a. Therefore, Elmasry's defense of the cabbies' position reinforced their
notion that Islamic law trumps American secular law. In a later lawsuit, the cabbies
lost and intend to appeal.
2. Niqabi fails to reveal face for ID purposes.
The second example concerns Muslim women and modesty. While there is no specific
definition of what modesty entails in the Qur'an, Islamists increasingly demand
the niqab, which covers a woman's body, hair, and her face. Islamists refuse to concede
that the niqab is not a requirement of Islam, and is greatly debated among Muslims. Yet,
when Americans raise security concerns, Islamists call them racist.
Consider, Sultana Freeman, a niqabi in Florida. She refused to remove her veil for picture
identification purposes at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) citing modesty. In
reality, she mocks any reasonable person's definition of modesty, since ID pictures have
nothing to do with attraction and sexuality, completely ignoring Florida's right to identify
its citizenry for the sake of public safety. Such blind adherence to Shari'a, rather than the
laws of the state, exemplifies the disdain Islamists have for non-Muslims wherever they
may live, as well as for use of common sense and good judgement.
3. Polygamy in America
Imams in the United States are obligated to perform their duties within the limits of
American secular law. Yet, some Imams, like Siraj Wahhaj, prefer to ignore American law
where it conflicts with Islamic law. Wahhaj stated in Paul Barrett's 2007 book American
Islam that, "If a man can have a hundred girlfriends, and it's legal, I don't say you can't
have more than one wife."
Rather than explain what is wrong with men having multiple relationships, Wahhaj
greenlights it under the guise of polygamy, despite American law against it. This is because
he only sees relationships from a usurious male perspective when he should be teaching
men to see women as equals and partners. Moreover, he ignores a woman's perspective
entirely. Subsequent wives have no legal rights. Family problems, domestic abuse, combined
with economic dependency, forces women to remain silent when issues arise.
Wahhaj also ignores the criminal fraud behind polygamy as well. The United Kingdom and
Canada, like the U.S.A., face welfare fraud every time polygamous marriages are made.
Subsequent wives live in a marital household, yet can file for welfare as single women
because they fail to register the marriage. The failure to register is not an accident.
Polygamous couples know that, if they file, they will be arrested for violating local bigamy
laws. Second, these couples realize the financial advantages, given current welfare policy.
Such fraud is occurring in the thousands and is a burden to all taxpayers.
It is time for policymakers to realize that Sharia is a system of hate and must not gain any influence in American society. It
denigrates women, non-Muslims, and the U.S. Constitution. Policymakers must define the limits of religious
accommodation in light of the Islamist agenda. Otherwise, constitutional democracy and true tolerance will be mere words
with no meaning as Islamism spreads in the West. The UAC billboard is a good start in bringing the danger of Sharia to
the American nation's attention.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
--------------------------------------------------
POLITICAL SYSTEMS (POLITICAL REGIMES):
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY & OTHER POLITICAL REGIMES
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Fundamental Character & Essential Ingredients
Constitutionalism: The First Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Dictatorship: The Opposite of Constitutionalism
Representative Democracy: The Second Essential Ingredient
of Modern Constitutional Democracy
Direct Democracy & Representative Democracy
Political Culture & Modern Constitutional Democracy
Modern Constitutional Democracy:
Summary & Conclusion
Supna Zaidi is Editor-in-Chief of Muslim World Today and Assistant Director of "Islamist Watch" at the Middle
East Forum.
The foregoing article by Supna Zaidi was originally published in Front Page Magazine, October 6, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1993)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
October 7, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity