69 million page views

It is all about the money

Reader comment on item: [Paul H. Robinson:] U Penn Prof for Shari'a

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Mar 3, 2013 at 07:49

I think that the professor was either naive and he had no clue about what Islam is all about or he was after glory and making some money which I suspect is most likely the case

For the readers not familiar with what is really al-shari3a all about. It is the legal system of Islam that should be applied in an ideal Islamic state. It is based on the Qur'an (which does not tell us very much anyway) and what is called al-sunna al-nabawiyya or the practices of Muhammad as we would find in the great commentaries written in the 3rd century of Islam in Iran and Mesopotamia and to some degree in Egypt.

Where did it come from? research by modern Western scholars of Islam reveals that Roman law had great infleunce as would be expected. However Patricia Crone proved with great ease that the source of Islamic law (at least in the case of Syria and Egypt) is Provincial law at the time of the Arab invasions of the Middle East (again in the case of let us say Egypt in late antiquity there were two types of law: Roman law that applied to Greeks living in Egypt and the very old native Egyptian law or provincial law)

Again like anyhting in Islam the Qur'an does not tell us very much (it has been estimated that only 90 laws can be traced to the Qur'an) so the rest of Islamic law depends on al-sunna al-nabawiyya which Muslims realized early on that most of it is made up (read this as forgeries) and this is why the concept of isnad was established but again Muslims realized that if a sunna can be fabricated so can the isnad and this is why we have the Islamic schools of fiqh (read this word as law)

Now by the 10th century all Islamic schools of fiqh came to the conclusion that human behaviour can be one of five things: obligatory, indifferent, remommended, reprehensible and forbidden and this was based on the interpretation of the Qur'an and the bogus al-sunna al-nabawiyya so it is for sure not one voice and one opinion

And this is why Muslims came up with the concept of al-ijma3 or concensus but this did not stop Muslims from having different schools of fiqh as would be expected

The next was the concept of al-kiyas or al-mizan which really means to provide a legal rule or judgement through analogy

And this is where you start to see how al-shari3a really functions and the ulama left no question without an answer and some of them are really bizarre and strange as in what happens to the inheritance of a hermaphrodite after all his female half receives less than his male half

All of this was ready to go more than 1000 years ago and many educated Muslims even those that give lip service to al-shari3a realize that al-shari3a was good 1000 years ago but it has no place in the 21st century

Agian all of the above is really al-shar3a al-islamiyya 101 and no more

So you can see that how can the good professor try to fix a legal system albeit flawed that is supposed to be Allah's law? The answer is he should realized that he will not be able to do it

Dislike
Submitting....

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".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (44) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1It is all about the money [555 words]dhimmi no moreMar 3, 2013 07:49203985
3You can't stay to see what will happen [280 words]Mohamed ShahidFeb 26, 2007 16:2579078
Very Courageous, Mohamed Shahid, you have seen the light [96 words]JaladhiFeb 26, 2007 16:4079078
1TRAITOR [44 words]DhooniMar 26, 2007 10:1179078
1Maldives is not a HUB of Terrorist.. [101 words]Bond HaleemOct 1, 2007 17:0279078
1re: [52 words]A True MaldivianApr 2, 2009 17:5079078
1Sharia confines non-Muslim natives to being second class citizens [44 words]HariSep 3, 2004 01:2716667
Maldives and Sharia [165 words]WaheedSep 2, 2004 08:1116653
I'm suffering being Maldivian Army! [168 words]Mohamed HaleemOct 1, 2007 16:3916653
Yes He Is Right! [274 words]Mohamed JiyadhuOct 2, 2007 05:2716653
A fine building on a bad foundation [36 words]Bert HigginbothamAug 17, 2004 12:4016400
Hope [96 words]Kelvin KhanAug 6, 2004 15:1216253
Maldives are not Moldavia [91 words]Lino KlevesathAug 5, 2004 16:2916246
What is justice? [51 words]Jack CrawfordAug 5, 2004 09:3616239
1NO to this project! [88 words]Alhan FahmyAug 2, 2004 22:2116197
What do Muslims think of their own code? [79 words]Edward BrynesAug 2, 2004 07:3116191
not as bad as sounds [72 words]Hari SeldonJul 28, 2004 21:1016161
The sanction of evil [76 words]Maryallene OtisJul 28, 2004 15:4516156
Shari'a Part 1 [274 words]StombsJul 28, 2004 13:1016152
Sharia "update" for the Maldives [173 words]Steven MandelJul 28, 2004 01:1216141
The Maldivian Federalist Papers [286 words]Marco G. SulpiziJul 28, 2004 00:0016135
Help tracking down another article by Marco G. Sulpizi, The Legal Legacy of San Francisco's 1934 General Strike, 10 Verdict 19 (Oct. 2004) [11 words]Carmela KinslowFeb 20, 2006 12:0316135
Progress of Law [279 words]Bob VaselaarJul 27, 2004 22:0516133
Why I agree with Prof. Robinson [68 words]Walter H. KingJul 27, 2004 18:0616126
Shariah/Quran#4.34/The Women [213 words]bones1420Jul 27, 2004 17:5616124
Re: Moldavia is on the right track. Be patient. [85 words]mark northoverJul 27, 2004 01:2716099
Maldivian criminal code project [54 words]Lynn P. AltadonnaJul 26, 2004 20:3516098
Comments on Maldivian Criminal Law changes [69 words]Joan PoltensonJul 26, 2004 17:2516095
Edifying Exchange [28 words]H CahenJul 26, 2004 15:5016093
Sharia vs Maldivian Law [74 words]Terry WallsJul 26, 2004 14:5916091
Legal is .. [99 words]don vanJul 26, 2004 14:4516089
Professor Robinson's blind spot [202 words]Chris AtwoodJul 26, 2004 14:2616088
Pipes has to conceed that Robinson's goals are the same [250 words]Josh PerlmanJul 26, 2004 13:3916087
Give this a try [58 words]Yale ZussmanJul 26, 2004 13:2516086
Hierarchical relationship of Sharia and Criminal Justice [62 words]Ralph C. Whaley MDJul 26, 2004 12:3816084
Moldavia is on the right track. Be patient. [181 words]Adam ColeJul 26, 2004 11:4816083
No hope? [131 words]Floyd LabarJul 26, 2004 11:0016082
Hammer versus Screw driver [141 words]mark neibergJul 26, 2004 09:5016079
Maldives and Sharia [153 words]Vijay DandapaniJul 26, 2004 09:3116078
U PENN'S SHARI'A COURSE [186 words]Graham RaelbrookJul 26, 2004 09:2916077
Maldives Code of Criminal Justice [244 words]Robin KatzmanJul 26, 2004 09:2816076
Who is afraid of Sharia? [66 words]Ghulam MuhammedJul 26, 2004 09:2816075
Sharia in Maldives [102 words]A readerJul 26, 2004 09:1716074
Secular people redesigning God's law? [52 words]Alain Jean-MairetJul 26, 2004 09:0616073

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)