Sharia Law and it's Controversy

With the announcement that Libya will have a new government in 10 days’ time, excitement and anxiety are growing. Mahmoud Jibril announced today that the new government is waiting to be revealed until discussions over the number and location of ministries, reports Al Jazeera. With this announcement news of international support for newly liberated countries has come out. The G8 summit will start a program which will inject financial aid into countries like Tunisia and Egypt as well as sending international experts to guide democratic transitions. Both of these announcements bring about questions about the new governments? Will they be truly democratic? How much foreign influence will they allow? And the taboo questions for some Americans: Will it be based of sharia law?

The flag of the National Transitional Council has been raised at the UN headquarters [AFP]

According to this speech from NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, yes it will. And this will surely cause an uproar from many people in the US. Especially if we decide to aid them in any way, that would be crossing the line now wouldn’t it? But is Islamic law as bad as many put it out to be? In this article by Toni Johnson and Lauren Vriens, Islamic law is clearly explained and the controversy over it explained. Yes, there are punishments for crimes that seem cruel and unusual by today’s standards. But these punishments are almost never used. The only time we hear about them is when they are used, because that’s what will get our attention. And that’s the main problem concerning Islamic law and how it’s viewed in the US. The media wouldn’t print a story about how Islamic law is normal and just as justifiable as US law. No, they want to print the story about the bloodthirsty Middle East and its sexist, cruel punishments for petty crimes. But stories like that almost always reflect a radical, fringe group, something that does not in any way reflect the whole. 

Unfortunately, sharia law does seem to lead to a lot of  gender inequality and criticisms often come up. While some can be proven unfounded, many are still bringing about controversy and there does seem to be a problem among Muslim women regarding discrimination. Many outsiders question the restrictions placed on women regarding headscarves and the veiling of their faces. Although many Muslim women protest this, saying it restricts their freedoms and is not up to date with the modern world, others still believe it is an integral part of the faith. Like many other topics, the controversy surrounding the treatment of women under sharia law has good points from both sides, and is ultimately up to the individual on what they decide. But it needs to be said that any democratic government should give the individual the right and freedom to make that choice.

Muslim women wearing the traditional Nijab veil, covering everything but their eyes.

 Islamic law is still under scrutiny, reasonably so. Many countries have sharia law as part of their constitution, a state religion. This is what I think bothers soooo many people, that a religion’s ideals are being wrongfully forced on people. Some countries solve this by going halfsies, and applying sharia only to those who are Muslim, and then still others are completely secular, and Islamic law exists only at the local level. This is what the international community is holding its breath about, what Libya will decide on. At this point it looks like they want some involvement of Sharia in their government, but that’s not so bad. Different levels vary and its not that different than any western laws. But how involved it is in the government is the source of controversy, something the NTC has recognized and wishes to converse about with its people. And as long as they make sure they’re doing what the people want, that’s fine by me.