Thread: Liberation in Libya? Sharia law and unintended consequences

Liberation in Libya? Sharia law and unintended consequences

Monday, October 24, 2011 6:45

According to the United Kingdom’s Daily Telegraph, Libya’s interim leadership has declared that Sharia – the traditional Islamic code of law – will play an integral part in the country’s new judicial system. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... c-law.html

In describing the upcoming changes, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council and de facto president, stated that Sharia will be the “basic sourceâ€

This is the reason our foreign policy is flawed. We keep hearing Obamy and even his predecessor Bushy extol the virtues of establishing Democracy to Middle Eastern Countries. Every time I hear this from our current leader it reinforces how ignorant he really is , or could it be from his perspective , how ignorant we really are. After all he was raised Islamic and should understand it far better than Jorge. I concede he was not raised under Sharia law in Indonesia, but the principles of the religion are the same. Sharia Law does not recognize " Democracy" and the entire concept is foreign to most fundamentalist Muslims as snow is in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Ask a Muslim what the word " Freedom means , and you will find it bears no relation to our concept of Freedom. Freedom to a Muslim means the ability to follow the teachings of Islam to the letter with NO deviation. It means a capitulation to authority, predominantly to Religious leaders. There is no concept of individual choice or personal responsibility outside of devotion to Allah.

This is where our current policies will fail and we will also fail. We use a common word to define the goal. The problem is it has two very different meanings. Through their tribal and religious background it has always been so , and always will be. Asking a tiger to change his stripes would be an easier task.

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By Sam Greenhill
Last updated at 11:40 PM on 24th October 2011
265 Comments

Islamic sharia law will be the ‘basic source’ of legislation in free Libya, its new leader has proclaimed.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil’s vision has come as a shock to some of the millions of citizens still celebrating their liberty from decades of tyranny.
The chairman of the National Transitional Council declared that a future parliament would have an ‘Islamist tint’ and any existing laws contradicting the teachings of Islam would be ‘nullified’.


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Under the new regime, men will even be permitted to take up to four wives, he suggested.

The sudden lurch by a country seen as very moderate towards Islamic extremism will alarm many in the West who supported the ousting of Colonel Gaddafi.


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Mohammed Bodima, said: ‘We have fought and spilled blood for democracy. What is this about sharia law?’ The father-of-two used to live in Catford, south-east London, but now resides in Benghazi, birthplace of the revolution.

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Musa Kusa is believed to have been an intelligence officer at the time of the 1988 Lockerbie bomb atrocity in which 270 people were killed.

He made a high-profile defection to Britain in March and was interviewed by police and Scottish prosecutors investigating the bombing.

He left the country following an EU decision to lift sanctions against him, meaning he no longer faces travel restrictions or an asset freeze.

Kusa was traced by the BBC's Panorama programme, which is investigating allegations that he tortured political prisoners in Libya.

He declined to comment on the claims.

Kusa was head of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence agency from 1994 and a senior intelligence agent when PanAm flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie.

There have also been calls for Kusa to be quizzed in relation to the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot during a protest outside London's Libyan Embassy in 1984.

The Foreign Office said Kusa was a 'private individual' who had been interviewed voluntarily.

He added: ‘If we are to have sharia, it must be voted on by the population. That would be democracy.’

Tripoli resident Abdul Azzud said: ‘I am very worried. Nobody realised this is what we would get.

‘They are going in the wrong direction if they impose sharia. It is extremely concerning.’ After making his surprise announcement at a liberation ceremony in Benghazi, Mr Abdul-Jalil stepped from the podium to kneel and offer a prayer of thanks.

Later he was at pains to insist Libya would not drift towards religious extremism.

‘I want to assure the international community that we as Libyans are moderate Muslims,’ he said. And he said the proposed constitution was ‘temporary’ and would be put to a referendum.

But in his earlier speech, he announced: ‘Any law that violates sharia is null and void legally,’ citing a marriage law passed by Gaddafi imposing restrictions on polygamy.

The Muslim holy book, the Koran, allows men to take up to four wives.
‘The law of divorce and marriage, this law is contrary to sharia and it is stopped,’ Mr Abdul-Jalil declared.

His remarks were condemned by Adelrahman al-Shatr, a founder of the new centre-right Party of National Solidarity.

‘By abolishing the marriage law, women lose the right to keep the family home if they divorce,’ he said. ‘It is a disaster for Libyan women.

‘It is a subject that should be discussed with the political groups and the Libyan people. These declarations create pain and bitterness among women.’

A 40-year-old Libyan woman called Rim added: ‘It is shocking and insulting to state, after thousands of Libyans have paid for freedom with their lives, that the priority is to allow men to marry in secret.
‘We did not slay Goliath so that we now live under the Inquisition.’


Tripoli: A woman holds up a photo of a relative during post-liberation celebrations in Martyrs' Square

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1biF93jUG