Canadian Muslims are taking steps to set up Sharia law to adjudicate disputes within their own communities. Law Times News reports that "a recent convention of Muslim community leaders" has "elected a 30-member council which will work towards establishing a Darul-Qada (a judicial tribunal), to be known as the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice (Canada)." (Thanks to kathyshaidle, relapsed catholic.)
The article says that "the convention is the latest step in a long struggle to have Islamic law recognized in Canada. Shariah is a complex and sophisticated body of law based on religious principles. Muslims must resolve all their commercial and personal disputes according to its tenets."
Sharia is also a comprehensive system of societal laws, including ones that mandate the institutionalized subjugation of non-Muslims (dhimmitude) and the waging of jihad against them. Many Muslims believe that once a Muslim community becomes a majority in any nation, Sharia must be instituted there. Has Canada just taken the first step?
To be sure, right now this is simply an arbitration board for personal and business disputes. But it could easily become more, particularly if it receives official recognition from supine, dhimmi Canada.
The article says that Muslims have had difficulty living by the Sharia in Canada: "This has been extremely difficult when there have only been individuals and ad hoc committees providing legal advice and limited mediation and arbitration services. Most dispute resolution has been conducted by Imams, who are learned men connected with local mosques.
"Legal scholars, known as ulama, are thin on the ground in North America. Their knowledge is essential in adjudicating complex issues.
"One of the key obstacles to establishing an Islamic legal institution identified by a number of speakers was a lack of unity and organizational strength. While the Muslim community is the largest minority in Canada, over one million strong, it is made up of groups from many different countries and different schools of Islam. Each group has organized its own activities and there has been no common cause.
"Organizer B. Husain Bhayat was heartened by the turnout. The two main groups - Sunni and Shi'ite - were both represented and there were many Imams and leaders of organizations. . . . The president of the convention was barrister Syed Mumtaz Ali, who struck the first blow in the campaign for recognition of Islamic law in 1962. He was the first lawyer to swear his oath of allegiance on the Koran.
"Syed explained the law of minorities as it is set down by the Shariah. Muslims in non-Muslim countries are required to follow the Shariah to the extent that it is practical."
Unmentioned in this article is whether they discussed the status of non-Muslims in Muslim countries, or the means set down by Islamic law for the transition of a state from non-Muslim to Muslim status.
"'The law applies as if to Bedouin wanderers,' he said. 'We are required by our own law to follow the laws of the country and to follow our own laws. We have a double obligation. You don't have to be the wisest man to see there will be conflicts. . . .'
"Syed explained that until recent changes in the law, Canadian Muslims have been excused from applying Shariah in their legal disputes.
"Arbitration was not deemed to be practical because there was no way to enforce the decisions. Syed said the laws have recently changed with amendments to the Arbitration Act."
But now all that has changed, and secular Canadian courts apparently will have no jurisdiction in matters handled by this new Darul-Qada. "Now," says Syed, "once an arbitrator decides cases, it is final and binding. The parties can go to the local secular Canadian court asking that it be enforced. The court has no discretion in the matter."
In Canada, as in most Western jurisdictions, the courts have the power to deem a contract unenforceable if its terms are contrary to public policy. I don't know the law regarding arbitration in Ontario, but I'm pretty sure they'd have the same power regarding any offensive 'sharia' decisions.
This is unbelievable, and shows the degree to which Canada has sunk to total absurdity. It is going to put a further strain on US-Canada relations as well.
The SAVAGERY of Sharia Law cannot be overstated. What are the Canadians going to do the first time a hand is lopped off for theft? Or a leg amputated for a 2nd offense (on opposite sides from the missing hand, of course)? Do ANY of these officials who advocate Muslims adopting Sharia law have ANY idea what they are doing? I think not. This is a nightmare.
Its amazing how the majority of people speak with little knowledge. I assure you that none of the above people have ever once studied islam.. very few could probably tell you anything about even the foundation of islam.
For some reason the people have more trust in the goverment that funds its operations by placing crack into inner city minority communities.. for some reason we can support going into other countries and blowing them up and tearing down peoples homes..however we can understand a system that is goverened not by laws of people that are limited.. but of the creator who is not limited.
ISlam has been misrepresented.. if one were to go to its roots then they would realize the beauty of this way of life.. a way of life that has been given to every PRophet in every period of time.. but that has been manipulated and misconstrued .. ( a perfect eg being the bibile )
NAturally..when we look at the problems in society we do not wait for the problems to get out of hand and then say .. hey! lets make a law.
IF any of you have gone to a country such as mecca and many others you would see the beauty of the people and the simplicity. In regards to stealing for eg.. it is shown that jails have done nothing to correct this. In many of these countries you can literally lay gold out on the table and when its time to pray just cover it with a cloth.. and no one.. no one even thinks to steal. Law should not only be a matter of punishment.. it should also be a matter of prevention for the overall better welfare of society.
ANd the best law is one that does not keep you in fear of mankind or manmade things as there may not always be people present and physical restrictions. HOwever..the creator is always there .. and that connection to the root of our existence keeps us in check constantly... and therefore keeps the soul from seeking the things that will only contribute to its demise...
( from 21 yr old american female..daughter of muslim converts to islam)
An interesting quote about Shariah Law from an article about leading Egyptian feminist Dr. Al-Sa'dawi, and what should be done about her:
"However, others maintained that Al-Sa'dawi should be punished. Dr. Abd Al-Mun'im Al-Berri, former head of "The Front of Al-Azhar Clerics," explained that "we should ask her to repent within three days, but if she persists with these ideas, she should be punished according to what the Islamic Shari'a [religious law] determined for those who abandon Islam. The ruler, meaning the head of state or government, should carry out the punishment." Sheikh Mustafa Al-Azhari explained that the punishment for anyone who fights Allah and His Prophet is execution, crucifixion, the amputation of opposite limbs or banishment from earth."
Note the head of state or government has to do the deed. Does Prime Minister Paul Martin realize he will have to begin sharpening his amputation tools because his job description has changed radically, or will he pawn this one off on Governor General Adrien Clarkson? Inquiring minds want to know.
Take a look at what Syed Mumtaz Ali (the lawyer who is behind the Sharia in Canada) said at the following webpage:
http://muslim-canada.org/apostasy.htm
He believes that killing Ex-Muslims is a part of Islam. He believes in killing my husband!
I find it ludicrous that any jurisdiction in Canada is even considering allowing Muslim Sharia law to be used in any way shape or form. Canada has a very well established legal system and body of precedents; we do not need the misogyny and tribalism inherent in Islamic "law" and culture.
Indeed, given the lack of compatibility between Sharia and modern Canadian courts, it is likely that by allowing the former to be used we will be bogging down the latter with appeals and clarifications.
Finally, there are many people who came to this nation to escape countries in which Sharia is used and these people are now quite rightly frightened that their new home is adopting one of the more odious aspects of the countries from which they fled. Shame on Canada!
Richard
Toronto, Canada
I think as non muslims we ( the people of Canada) should voice our disagrrement with this. There is NO place for this in Canada. If Muslims want to live in Canada they MUST live by our LAWS and not those of the county they left or ran from.
The shariat will be applicable only on people who call themselves Muslims. I don't know why it is worrying non-Muslims and former Muslims.
If they think that shariat are "cruel" then it is cruel only for Muslims, and Muslims are the ones who are asking for it. Then what are non-Muslims afraid of?
The following is taken from another part of this site. I think it shows why this must be stopped and not allowed in Canada. The laws and just plain stupid. Punish the victim as well as the person committing the crime. So I say NO. If Muslims want to live by sharia then leave Canada and go back to the the countries that use it. There is no place in Canada for this.
Sharia alert: Nigerian man accused of rape faces death by stoning
"A Nigerian man has been sentenced to death by stoning for having sex with his teenage step daughter." So says ABC Online.
"The court in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi has ordered the execution of a man who admitted having sex with his 15-year-old step daughter. The man, Umar Tori, is facing death by stoning. His step daughter, who accused him of rape, has been sentenced to 100 lashes.
"The girl says her step father forced her to have sex with him in a field near the family home in July last year. She is now pregnant and the court has ordered that she will not be lashed until she delivers her baby.
"Sharia law was reintroduced in parts of northern Nigeria in 1999, after the end of military rule."
I will try to find out more about this case. I would like to know if the man confessed, or if four witnesses came forward (which is the classic evidence requirement for rape under Sharia law), or if the verdict was reached in some other way. Also note that the rape victim will be lashed: she too has engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse (zina), which is punishable even if it was against her will.
This is the law that radical Muslims are laboring to impose wherever and whenever they can.
This is in reply to Salman and Hasana. Unlike the latter who is the daughter of converts to Islam, I am a thirty five year old male who was born to Muslim parents in Iran from a long lineage of Muslim families. I spent a sizeable number of my life in religious schools so I cannot be accused of not knowing what goes on in Sharia (The Islamic law).
Ms. Hasana, Islam has been misrepresented. It has been presented to the west much better than it really is. There is a part of Islam that (like many other religions) is beautiful and logical. I am glad that your parents only exposed you to that part. Islamic Sharia however, is probably one of the cruelest, most chauvinistic, and most antiquated set of rules still under enforcement in today's world. Here are a few examples of UNDISPUTED parts of Sharia, mostly common between major sects of Islam. Read on and see how they fit into the ideals of the Canadian Society:
1- Women’s Rigths: Every one knows that Islam allows men to have 4 wives simultaneously and Shiites can, in addition, have an infinite number of temporary wives, so I am not gonna discuss that more. Women have universally less rights than men in legal and financial matters. For example, in Shiite Sharia, a daughter has half of a son’s right to the legacy of a deceased parent. In legal issues the testimony of two men equals that of four women. Many of the tenets of Sharia are directly extracted from the Koran, which explicitly refers to men as the superior gender and allows beating of one’s wife to discipline them: “Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great” (AN-NISA, verse 34).
2- Sex: Matters of sex in Islam are reminiscent of the dark ages of Christian Europe in medieval times. In Shiite Sharia, there is not such thing as consensual sex between adults. Any sexual relationship outside marriage is punishable by penalties ranging from whipping and flogging to stoning, which is probably the MOST painful death one can envisage. Islam does not recognize homosexuality in any way. I am sure western readers can draw an analogy with the Catholic Church’s stance on the matter. It even does not acknowledge the possibility of hormonal or biological forces that makes a person to be gay. To me, that is similar to not recognizing hemophilia as a disease. In fact, Sharia considers science beneath it. I agree that a lot of what Sharia says is common sense and in harmony with science, but there are some issues which stand in contrast with proven scientific principles and in those matters Sharia never backs off.
3- Absurdity: What some people refer to be a “sophisticated and complex” set of rules are, in many occasions, nothing more than twisted absurdities that are not even worth mentioning. Example: There are about eleven “unclean” entities in Islam, the most obvious of which are dog and pork products. One can think of a long list of things that can be considered unclean or unhygienic, but guess what number 11 in this category is: “The sweat of a camel that eats filth” (!) Now I can fathom how this could be significant and “sophisticated” 1400 years ago, but today it is a joke.
4- Treatment of non-Muslims: Islam does not sanction arbitrary religions. As a Buddhist you can get in trouble in an Islamic setting because Buddhism does not exactly match the standards of other monotheist religions. Even if you are recognized as a Jew or a Christian, you may be subject to a levy (in essence you can be blackmailed) at the discretion of the Islamic government. If you convert from Islam to something else, you are in deep jam!! In this situation your blood is technically “Mobah” which in layman’s terms means any Muslim CAN shed your blood IF THEY FEEL LIKE IT!! By the way, the body of an atheist is number 8 on the list of “unclean” things.
5- Imprecision: Even if one could regard these laws favorably, the quantitative measures in applying these laws are extremely poor to the extent that they become useless. Example: Sometimes, for a certain class of involuntary manslaughter the person who has committed the crime should pay a certain amount to the family of the deceased as compensation. This amount is either 1000 Dinars (currency used in Arabia 1400 years ago) or 100 camels, or 200 cows or a thousand lambs. The jury is still out on how to resolve the discrepancy among different payment method, let alone the precise determination of the value of 100 camels.
I know people can argue that such antiquated aspects of Sharia are never applied, but the fact remains that they can be invoked, AT ANY TIME, if the clerics so decide. The first thing they teach you in an Islamic school is that Sharia is an absolute measure that never grows old by time. Therefore, such weak and vague laws will be with Sharia forever.
By the way, Mr. Salman, if these laws are applied only in the circle of Muslims, it does not mean that they are none of other people’s business. If you hear your neighbor beating up his wife you cannot turn away from it. It is just not to the collective benefit of the society to let people do whatever they want only because it is only cruel to them.
There is a reason that Canada is where it is today and Muslim countries are where they are today. And there is also a reason why for every 50000 Muslims who choose to permanently live in Canada only one Canadian moves to a a Muslim country for good. Maybe that reason has to do with Canada not following the Sharia so far. How about this, let’s keep Canada the way it has always been and ask the people who push for Sharia to more conveniently move to one of those Muslim countries where Sharia is already in place?
If Canada changes the rules to eslamic rules for moslems,I am sure that most of the moslems change their religeon to something else,with the same reason that they changed their country.
Please leave eslam in Mekka Karbella and Qom .These three cities are enough please leave lucky Canadian people alone.Thanks to Azad to describe Islamic laws.
A woman in Iran
m
If Canada changes the rules to eslamic rules for moslems,I am sure that most of the moslems change their religeon to something else,with the same reason that they changed their country.
Please leave eslam in Mekka Karbella and Qom .These three cities are enough please leave lucky Canadian people alone.Thanks to Azad to describe Islamic laws.
A woman in Iran
m
Canada has very good judicial system. Not only that, Canadians follow the true religion of compassion, kindness,tolerance and rights of freedom.So why Islamic sharia has not helped muslim countries where corruption has peaked and muslims are trying every illegal or legal way to enter these non muslim countries.I am a practicing muslim and proud to be Canadian who is satisfied and happy with everything Canadian, justice system, law and lifestyle.Faith and religion are personal choices, not to be forced on others and Canada just does that.I will stay with Canadian judicial system.I love Canada in every way, as it is, and that makes me very patriotic.Personal sins will be judged by Allah, nobody has the right to stone no body.Any crime is handled better in non sharia countries.
Sharia't amounts to legalized murder. It does not recognize the need for representation of human needs and consciousness, only that of a being whose existence cannot in any way be verified. It is a predatory ideology by nature in that it brutally and systematically eliminates everything not of its own cultural making (education for one thing). Once introduced, it will stop at nothing to eliminate anything standing in its way...including the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Does anyone who believes seriously in 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' think that 'slay the infidels everywhere they are found' will prove an agreeable or even thinkable substitute? More to the point, do human rights even EXIST in the islamic empire? We insist that they never really have and never really will. Fellow Canadians, are you willing to abandon your inalienable rights as human beings THIS EASILY (and for an ideology that has virtually NO physical proof to confirm anything it propounds and has nonetheless systematically slaughtered literally hundreds of millions of human beings through the centuries across the globe)??? If not, take action NOW! Before it is too late!
Sharia't amounts to legalized murder. It does not recognize the need for representation of human needs and consciousness, only that of a being whose existence cannot in any way be verified. It is a predatory ideology by nature in that it brutally and systematically eliminates everything not of its own cultural making (education for one thing). Once introduced, it will stop at nothing to eliminate anything standing in its way...including the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Does anyone who believes seriously in 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' think that 'slay the infidels everywhere they are found' will prove an agreeable or even thinkable substitute? More to the point, do human rights even EXIST in the islamic empire? We insist that they never really have and never really will. Fellow Canadians, are you willing to abandon your inalienable rights as human beings THIS EASILY (and for an ideology that has virtually NO physical proof to confirm anything it propounds and has nonetheless systematically slaughtered literally hundreds of millions of human beings through the centuries across the globe)??? If not, take action NOW! Before it is too late!
Sharia in Canada? This is HORRIBLE. They'll be clamoring for it the USA next, just watch.
I hope Canadians aren't so stupid as to allow this.
This will be a complete set back for Muslim Canadian women as they will NOT be told of their rights under Canadian law.
There IS a difference between Jews and Muslims; Jews were not trying to get their foot in the door to have Jewish laws imposed on everyone else as the Islamofascists are just as Al Jazeera has said was their actual motive.
Ahmad Hamdan said Hamas was going to target Sharon.
Those Islamofascist animals sent out a young boy to blow up himself and others; how evil.
I noted how nice the IDF soldiers were to the boy even giving him one of their jackets.
Tomorrow the liars will be saying he was tortured.
Thanks to the Muslims azan, azar and Mohammed for your voices. It's important to remember that not all Muslims support sharia. You three sound like very sensible people. May your voices grow in number.
Islamic law in Canada? Over my dead Canuck body will that ever happen.