abdulhakeem
07-05-04, 12:27 AM
05/05/2004 01:00:00 GMT
Dr. Kareem,
What are the countries which have their legal system based on Islamic law, which is to say that you could be punished by a religious court for violating Islamic law?
And which of those countries, if any, are there which allow freedom of expression, which is to say a citizen may speak their ideas in public and in the press and other media even if their ideas oppose their government or religious authority?
Thank you,
Jones, USA
Dr Kareems Comment
Nearly all Islamic countries have parts or nearly all of their legal systems based upon Islamic Law. This is not to say this is exclusive, as in most countries concurrent criminal/civil/tort legal systems run in parallel.
Freedom of expression varies greatly in the Islamic world, but importantly is not prohibited in Islamic Law as long as it is not blasphemous in anyway (and this applies to all religions, not just Islam meaning the protections offered to Islam under Islamic Law also extend to other religions) as we as Muslims respect people of other faiths.
But if your question is more along the lines of can someone stand on a soap box and express anti-government views, then of course this does not happen in Syria or Saudi, no surprise there Mr Jones. But you can do this in other Islamic countries such as Malaysia, Turkey, Pakistan.
As a side comment, political liberation such as this is also being erased elsewhere. Singapore, Russia, and even America - just take a read of the Patriot act...very grey stuff in that indeed. Actually Western Europe is in my view the most liberal place on the planet.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/article_full_story.asp?service_id=1787
Dr. Kareem,
What are the countries which have their legal system based on Islamic law, which is to say that you could be punished by a religious court for violating Islamic law?
And which of those countries, if any, are there which allow freedom of expression, which is to say a citizen may speak their ideas in public and in the press and other media even if their ideas oppose their government or religious authority?
Thank you,
Jones, USA
Dr Kareems Comment
Nearly all Islamic countries have parts or nearly all of their legal systems based upon Islamic Law. This is not to say this is exclusive, as in most countries concurrent criminal/civil/tort legal systems run in parallel.
Freedom of expression varies greatly in the Islamic world, but importantly is not prohibited in Islamic Law as long as it is not blasphemous in anyway (and this applies to all religions, not just Islam meaning the protections offered to Islam under Islamic Law also extend to other religions) as we as Muslims respect people of other faiths.
But if your question is more along the lines of can someone stand on a soap box and express anti-government views, then of course this does not happen in Syria or Saudi, no surprise there Mr Jones. But you can do this in other Islamic countries such as Malaysia, Turkey, Pakistan.
As a side comment, political liberation such as this is also being erased elsewhere. Singapore, Russia, and even America - just take a read of the Patriot act...very grey stuff in that indeed. Actually Western Europe is in my view the most liberal place on the planet.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/article_full_story.asp?service_id=1787