It matters how muslims govern themselves

Submitted by Kurt Basking (United States), Mar 2, 2010 at 04:01

Dear Dr Pipes: Waqar Akbar asks why should it matter to anyone how muslims choose to govern themselves. There are many reasons. I will cite a few.

1. If a hundred percent islamic nation chooses to spank a woman (as Malaysia does), we then we realize the external observers get a bit disturbed. What should we do? Keep quiet? This feels even worse when we realize that this woman may not have the freedom to renegate Islam or exit her country.

2. No nation is hundred percent islamic. We are concerned about the non-muslims citizens of Islamic nations.

3. If there was a way to permanently isolate people who follow the sharia from the people who choose to use a more liberal modern system, we will gladly accept that. But in the global village we cannot dissociate us from you.

4. We know that draconian measures bring instability in the society. We have seen this happen in communist countries. We want to save you from the trouble.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".