Sharia in Action

Here's yet another horror story from free and democratic Afghanistan. According to CNN:

Gunmen Spray Afghan Woman With Acid After Refusing Marriage

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Gunmen attacked and sprayed an Afghan family with acid in their home after the father rejected a man’s bid to marry his teenage daughter, authorities said Thursday.

The gunmen broke into their home and attacked the 18-year-old daughter, her two sisters and their parents, according to authorities in Kunduz province.

All five received medical treatment, with the mother and two daughters later discharged, medical officials said.

The teenager is in intensive care and her father is still hospitalized, said Abdul Shokoor Rahimi, a doctor at the provincial hospital.

The attack came on the heels of her family’s refusal to marry off the teen to another local gunman.

A month ago, a gunman tried to marry the teenager, but her family turned him down and instead got her engaged to a relative, said Nadera Geya, head of women’s affairs in the province.

“A few nights back, a group of armed men … poured acid over her, on her two young sisters and her parents after beating up her father,” Geya said.

The whole family was brought to the hospital Monday, local hospital officials said.

An unrelated news item from Libya arrived in our inbox at about the same time. According to ANSAmed:

“The West should not fear Islamic law because it brings peace, justice and rights,” National Transitional Council (NTC) Youth Minister and well-known human rights defender in Libya Fathi Terbil told ANSA. Terbil made his remark in response to a question about the possibility of introducing the Sharia in Libya’s new Constitution.

These are reassuring words. But if you want to see the practical effects of the imposition of Islamic law, Afghanistan is an example of sharia in action. The Afghan constitution has officially enshrined sharia since 2004:

Article 2 [Religions]:

(1) The religion of the state of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the sacred religion of Islam.

Article 3 [Law and Religion]:

In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.

The CNN article doesn’t mention Islam, but Islam is very much an issue where “honor” violence is concerned. If the suspects in this case are ever apprehended, the judge will examine Islamic law as it applies to the attack. Throwing acid onto members of that family may be a violation of sharia, but it may not — we will have to wait and see. The precedents are not encouraging.

And sharia has now come to Libya. We are enjoined not to worry about that — Islamic law is alleged to be a force for good, bringing “peace, justice, and rights.” And so it does — as those words are defined under Islamic law:

• “Peace” means submission to Allah.
  
• “Justice” means the full implementation of sharia, whose jurisdiction is to include Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Since non-Muslims have very few rights under Islamic law, this form of “justice” should be viewed with trepidation by Christians, Jews, etc.
  
• “Rights” are defined by the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, and not by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In other words, all human rights which Libyans enjoy will flow from sharia, and cannot contradict sharia.

It’s worth noting that the United States and NATO have now installed sharia-based constitutions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. When the Muslim Brotherhood takes the reins in Cairo, we can expect to see a full-sharia constitution voted in for Egypt.

It pains me to point this out again, but the United States remains the most powerful agent in the world backing the implementation of sharia. This was true under the Bush administration, and it is even more true under the Obama administration.

Keep that fact in mind during next year’s election. If you think that voting in an establishment Republican president will bring a change of sharia-enforcement policy, you’ve got another think coming.


Hat tips: Insubria, J-PD.