Shaker Al-Nabulsi Quotes

Theological & Legal Expert. The Sunnah, like the Koran, has statements of the Prophet, Mohammad. A fatwa is a religious legal ruling. This particular Fatwa shows the great difference between the Islamic State and a Republic or Democracy. In the latter forms, any religious practices must be consistent with the Constitution. Even though blasphemy might be prohibited by a religion, the United States Constitution for example protects anyone’s right to be blasphemous. In the Islamic system any constitution or law is subservient to and must be consistent with, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. In that sense, unless the Muslim populated nation is secular like Turkey, then the governments are partial or total theocracies.

The “People of the Book” are the Jews and the Christians who believe in the Old Testament book of God which Muslims recognize. Others who would not accept Islam would be killed, but if Jews and Christians are submissive and fell so, they may pay a special additional tax, the Jizyah.

Munir was a strong advocate for civilian control over the military and as exposed many military atrocities and disappearances. He was poisoned on a Garuda Airlines flight to Holland where he was exposing more of the human rights violations of the Indonesian Military.

All modern legal systems conflict in some respects with a literal interpretation of the Koran which is the basis for the traditionalists view of Sharia—Islamic law. Therefore a student of modern law is learning things which go against Sharia as interpreted by fundamentalists. There was a time when Jewish and Christian American religious families were uncomfortable with studding modern law as there were contradictions with Biblical law. There are still a few.

Ethnic cleansing was a basic component of early Islam. The contemporary seeming hysteria over American troops in Arab nations, has in addition to the usual problems of soldiers from another land this background. The same is true about the presence of Israel. From some points of view, the presence of Christians and Jew in the Middle East is wrong per se because it undermines the work and intention of the Prophet.

This quotation which prohibits suicide is used by many Muslims to show that suicide bombers are anti-Islamic.

The “People of the Book” were the Jews and Christians who received special status in Muslim lands and societies. Despite the enmity and Muslim fundamentalist terrorism of modern times, Jews have historically lived in relative harmony in Islamic lands, and with the exception of the Christians in the Crusades, Christians were also given a place in Muslim societies. The “Book” refers to the Bible.

This verse has been one of the bases of Muslim theocratic states like Iran’s claim to legitimacy.

This quotation illustrates one interesting difference between Muslim fundamentalists and the Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. All three insist that whenever the world of God has appeared in holy scripture, it must be followed and not be eroded by time and modernity. However, the Islamic fundamentalists also believe that no other laws, regulations or norms are needed to cope with change and modernity while the fundamentalist Christians and Jews do allow for additional legislation to govern areas on which holy scripture is silent.

Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, 1943-2010, was an modernistic Egyptian Islamic Scholar and a Professor at the University of Cairo. One of his writings argued that the discriminatory tax that the Koran specified for Christians and Jews in an Islamic nation was not fair or consonant with modern thought regarding freedom of religion and the rights of minorities. Some fundamentalist were outraged and charged him with Apostacy for criticizing a Koranic prescription. He was convicted and lost his professorship. That was the least of his problems. Since he was an apostate, he was not a Muslim the Egyptian Courts ruled, and therefore his wife, a Muslim, could not legally remain married to her. His marriage was legally dissolved and he was threatened with death by fundamentalists forcing him and his wife to go into exile in Holland where he taught at the Utrecht University. He never returned.

This statement by The Prophet has been interpreted by Muhammad Abduh and other Islamic modernists and reformers as a call for co-existence and common ground between Muslims on the one hand and Christians and Jews on the other. However, some Muslim extremists interpret this sura to mean that the call is for the Christians and Jews to accept Islam and THEN there will be common words. There is in modern times, there is no Islamic Hierarchy like a Pope to make a definitive determination about such an interpretation so Muslims are split on the interpretation. In that sense Muslims today are like Protestants, Jews and Buddhists.

Fundamentalist Christians and Jews believe that the Bible is the revealed word of God. In Islam, not only is the same position taken, but it is specifically forbidden to even think about or have a personal opinion about a matter which appears in the Koran—decided by Allah and revealed to the Prophet Muhammed.

There are many different schools of thought about Islamic Law just as there are many opnions on any legal system. However, amongst the otherox Muslims there are 5 major schools of Islamic jurispredence--4 are Sunni and 1 Shiite. These 5 all share an intolerance of other religions. The Prophet allolwed Christians, Jews and Zoroasstrians to worship in their religious manner but they had to pay a discriminatory tax. No such provision was made for other religions and some of the modern Muslims try to force them, under penalty of death, to convert to Islam. After the Iranian Revolution for example, members of the Bahai religion were mordered if they would not convert. Many were hunted down and butchered.

It is this verse that for some Muslims justifies terrorism against non-Muslims. See {584354} for a specific example. There are similar provisions in the Old Testament which a few extremely conservative Jews and Christians have used to advocate for blasphemy being a capital crime. Note that if an unbeliever repents and becomes a Muslim, he should be spared.

While moderate Muslims interpret this sura as meaning that theologically, a belief in the divinity of Christ is inconsistent to Islam, extreme fundamentalists take this to indicate that Christians are heretics and should be executed in accordance with Sharia – Islamic Law.

The Islamic Holy Book even recommends against friendships with Christians and Jews. See {584381}.