Re: Questions from Leah

Submitted by z (United States), Aug 30, 2006 at 21:22

Leah,

in regards to your first question, it would depend what you meant by democracy. if you meant the definition of "rule by the people, for the people", then to a certain extent, Shariah Law is [against it]. this is because, under Islamic rule, the Law is established by God (as found in Islamic texts, such as Quran and Hadith), and for the sake of Justice on Earth. the Khilafa, or the "leader" of the Islamic State, is no more than someone to make sure that things are done in accordance with the Law of Allah (God). The people are simply to live under the prescribed law...small luxuries, particularly those not mentioned in the Quran, are not illegal, however, they should be dealt with through common sense and through the heart instead of what people inertly want (for example, the Taliban banning the internet, while seemingly extreme, is justified right now considering they have no control over it, and have no control over all the unlawful things and images (e.g. pornography, secularistic material, basically things that will take a person's mind away from purity) that it has in it. it does not, by any means, take away a person's rights. It only regulates which ones are good for them.

In the legal system of Islam (not "[my] legal system" as you put it), non-Muslim monotheists are allowed to live. Absolutely. Their rights are protected under the Islamic law. They are, however, subject to a tax called jizya, which is paid to the Islamic government. This tax is covered by the Muslims as well, as it is obligatory on them to pay a charity which I am sure you have heard of: zakat. So it is not a punishment on the non-Muslims, rather, it is only to keep them in check with Islamic Rule. However, the non-Muslim cannot bear arms or serve in the military. This is most likely done for security reasons (just as today, for a Muslim to play paintball or to buy a bunch of cell phones is considered suspicious…), and again, is not to degrade them. the Quran does say that the jizya tax is done to "humble" the non-Muslims, and that can be taken to mean simply that it is done to keep them in check with Islamic Rule (like I said before.).

There are exemptions from the jizya tax, to include females, children, the poor, and hermits. The disabled and elderly are exempt unless they are independently wealthy, as are mendicant monks (however, those living in productive monasteries have to pay.). so, again, it is not meant to be a punishment (there are also details on the different amounts that must be paid, and the amounts are based solely on the amount of money that [non-Muslim] makes/has.

The non-Muslim living in the Islamic State has just about the same rights as the Muslim. They are not killed, ridiculed, etc. nor are they prevented from practicing their faith. They are simply under the rule of an Islamic Government rather than a Secularist one. As far as my personal beliefs go, I am in no way blatantly opposed to freedom of religion, however, if I had a choice, I would naturally advise people to accept Islam rather than not, and only for their own sake for that matter. But again, that advising stops at just that: as the Quran says (and I am sure that you have heard this), Let there be no compulsion in religion…(Qur'an 2:256).

I hope that might answer your questions Leah. Let me say that I have read some of your comments and you seem like a very enlightened person. It seems as if you have done better than many others in letting the bias of our environment pass you and instead seeing the Reality. I respect you for that. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I will try inshAllah (God-Willing) to answer them. My regards.

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