Islam Has Already Been Interpreted By Sharia

by Nonie Darwish (October 2009)

I made the assertion that most Muslims who are rational, moral, humble, and God-fearing ignore or are unaware of the suggestions and mandates of the realities of Shar’iah law when it comes to the so called crime of apostasy in Islam…As we pray for Rifqa [Bary]’s safety and a just resolution to her case, it highlights now more than ever the need for lay Muslims to empower themselves in a new religious freedom movement. Muslims need to demand that our scholars and leaders start from scratch and sign petitions and write new law (ijtihad) protecting the equality of apostates which is endorsed by religious scholars in position of leadership or guidance in American mosques and American Muslim organizations. These petitions, opinions (fatwas) and new laws (Shar’iah) need to send to the dustbin of history any hint whatsoever of an Islamic punishment for apostasy. They should unequivocally repudiate any scholars who give exceptions to the rule of equal human rights for all before the state and family. They should make it clear that apostates deserve the same full rights as Muslims. This can only happen through a separation of mosque and state and a defeat of the idea of the “Islamic” state.
                     —-M. Zuhdi Jasser September 2009

I know many Muslims, including myself when I practiced Islam, who believe that Islam is represented in my good and peace-loving grandmother and grandfather, who were decent Muslims and who prayed 5 times a day. That is how many of us decided what Islam is all about. Any other truth is an assault on the beliefs of my own grandmother and heritage and must be untrue. But is that a realistic judgment of Islam? I do not believe so any more.

Muslim governments are also playing misleading games and playing with words. Official arrests of apostates are thus recorded as defaming Islam, enemies of the state, causing civil unrest or a threat to the peace. Announcing that you have become a Christian and why, in a Muslim state, meets all the above violations.

Our newly formed group Former Muslims United takes Islam at face value. Unless apostasy laws are clearly and beyond any doubt removed or annulled from Muslim scriptures, we cannot take claims by Muslim apologists seriously. We reject the double talk, contradictions or reliance on the wishful thinking of some progressive Muslims who are trying to create an unrealistic vision of Islam that does not exist today. We are happy to support such progressive Muslims, but unfortunately, they too are considered apostates for rejecting apostasy laws.

No one in Islam can dare change Sharia itself. So instead of dealing with the real problem many try to save face by claiming that Sharia and Islam are simply misinterpreted. That is not finding solutions for victims of Sharia and victims of terror; rather it is deceit that compounds the problem especially in the politically correct West.

The key issue for Islam today is not interpretation but a will to reform from inside. Muslims are in desperate need to muster the courage and leadership to admit that the problem is in the content and not the image. Islam needs renovation and change. Islam finds strength in the power of numbers. It is time to find power in reforming the faith.

Cruel and Usual Punishment.

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