My reading of JW started at 6:00am sharp.

Nevertheless...divided they fall.

Posted by: Quantum Infidel at May 8, 2008 6:58 AM

Bedier split due to some kind of gay thing or sex incident. Not that there's anything wrong with that! That's my guess.

Posted by: dennisw at May 8, 2008 6:58 AM

Visit Bedier's House: Combining natural economics (capitalism) and citizen awareness, I suggest anti-jihadists organize Islamofascism Bus Tours in every major city to visit the plethora of locales that jihad terrorists use to play, pray, and plan for attacks against non-Muslims.
In North Virginia, for instance, there is Jihad Corredor (Route 7) with numerous halal stores, apartments, and "charity" fronts to stop by. A narrator can inform the bus riders of the names and events that connect the sites to the 9/11 murderers, etc. Then there is the Saudi Islamic Academy on Rt. 1, with its valedictorian that plotted to murder the President. Can't forget the terror mosque in Falls Church, or the headquarters of dhimmi Rep. James Moran, with his history of coddling Islamofascists.
$10 a person--meet fellow defenders doing the work the government isn't--exposing jihad. Start your tour today!!

http://bravenewsworld.blogspot.com

Posted by: Max Publius at May 8, 2008 7:15 AM

Ahmed Bedier. Is he a convert, possibly of French origin? Joseph Bedier was responsible nearly a century ago for a celebrated version of "Tristan and Iseult," with the text in both medieval and modern French.

There is a story here. Some suggest private scandal, of the kind imams don't take kindly too (nothing, to do, that is, with blood-curdling attitudes and threats toward Infidels, which is not scandalous but par for the Gulf -- Arab or Persian -- course). Or is it merely a case of his being too obviously apologetic for, or tight with, terrorists, even for CAIR, at this point, to handle?

Posted by: Hugh at May 8, 2008 7:16 AM

Hugh--

from a quick glance at Bedier photos he is at least half Arab and more like 100%. But Lebanon/Syria had lots of mixing and maybe that's where he is from

Posted by: dennisw at May 8, 2008 7:26 AM

Islamofascist Bus Tour!!! comment above: That should have been Northern Virginia.

Posted by: Max Publius at May 8, 2008 7:27 AM

Islamofascist Bus Tour!!!
Visit Bedier's House: Combining natural economics (capitalism) and citizen awareness, I suggest anti-jihadists organize Islamofascism Bus Tours in every major city to visit the plethora of locales that jihad terrorists use to play, pray, and plan for attacks against non-Muslims.
In Northern Virginia, for instance, there is Jihad Corredor (Route 7) with numerous halal stores, apartments, and "charity" fronts to stop by. A narrator can inform the bus riders of the names and events that connect the sites to the 9/11 murderers, etc. Then there is the Saudi Islamic Academy on Rt. 1, with its valedictorian that plotted to murder the President. Can't forget the terror mosque in Falls Church, or the headquarters of dhimmi Rep. James Moran, with his history of coddling Islamofascists.
$10 a person--meet fellow defenders doing the work the government isn't--exposing jihad. Start your tour today!!

http://www.bravenewsworld.blogspot.com

Posted by: Max Publius at May 8, 2008 7:29 AM

Max--

That is Paul Sperry's Wahhabi corridor in north VA suburbs of Washington DC

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS269US271&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=%22Wahhabi+corridor%22&spell=1

Posted by: dennisw at May 8, 2008 7:29 AM

Dennis
Thanks for the reminder, I misremembered it as Jihad Corridor, but it's Wahhabi Corridor. I also learned it from Sperry, in his book Infiltration. He's doing great work. He's among a handful of individuals, with Spencer of course, who are worth their weight in platinum in this war against jihadism, compared to the trillions spent on worthless politically correct intel by the CIA/NSA, etc., and their goofy spies and politically-unaware techies. Thanks for the reminder.

Posted by: Max Publius at May 8, 2008 8:27 AM

Jihadi, Wahabbi--it's all the same thing, man.

Posted by: John C at May 8, 2008 10:31 AM

"civil rights activist"...

Just exactly what is that? What does it pay?
Where do you get an application?

Posted by: duh_swami at May 8, 2008 1:08 PM

Rape is defined as a “…crime of sexual intercourse … without consent and accomplished through force, threat of violence or intimidation”[1]. Scholars of Islamic Law are in agreement that Rape is a crime deserving punishment. Circumstances surrounding the case and the evidence presented dictate the sentencing of the crime. Of the issues surrounding the prosecution of rape that has gained public notoriety is the misconception that a woman must produce four witnesses in order to claim rape. We will briefly examine this claim in light of the texts of Islamic law. It goes without saying however, that in this answer we are speaking here about classical Islamic law and its principles and not the practice, customs, codes, or implementation of any particular country, Islamic or otherwise.

How is rape dealt with in Islamic law?

Rape cases are established like any other criminal case. Evidence is gathered, testimony is taken from witnesses, and a case is built. Suspects are apprehended and questioned, and if there is enough evidence they may be detained until trial.

Looking back to the formative period of Islamic law, there are numerous narrations from this era of Islamic history showing the legitimacy of a woman’s rape claim without the burden of presenting four witnesses. One such example of this is in the hadith collection known as Sunan Abı Dāwüd in which a woman reported rape, the case was investigated, and her attacker was prosecuted[2]. There is no mention in this hadith of the Prophet demanding from the accuser/woman to produce witnesses, or that she was guilty of slander for not doing so. Her claim was accepted and no further proof or witnesses were required from her in order for it to be investigated. Similar occurred in the time of the righteous Caliphs, namely in the times of both Umar and Ali, where cases of rape occurred and the accusers were not asked to produce witnesses[3]. Looking to the corpus of Islamic law (books of fiqh and fatwa) it would seem that, if in fact four witnesses were a prerequisite for a rape case to be heard, we would find not just one or two but tens, if not hundreds, of jurists that had mentioned this. However, I was not able to find a single jurist who had mentioned that four witnesses must be produced in order for a rape claim to be valid.

Is court testimony synonymous to slander?

Those that claim a woman accusing a man of rape must produce four witnesses do so under the assumption that rape is synonymous to fornication or adultery, and as such she must produce witnesses, and if unable to she is slanderous; this however is not the case.

Slander (Arabic: فذق qadhf), where a person makes an accusation of fornication against another person with the intent to defame[4], is a private claim (i.e. one that is brought by a private citizen against another private citizen); reporting rape, as with reporting any other crime that endangers the public, is public claim. Public claims, or as they are also known “Claims of God’s Rights” (Huqüqullah) are not brought to trial by one of the two parties involved, instead public claims involve the State prosecuting a private citizen for a crime he or she is accused of. Being that the state is responsible for protection of public welfare and safety, it has the responsibility to investigate, prosecute, and convict crimes that threaten the public individually or collectively.

One reason for the confusion concerning a rape claim versus slander rests on the misunderstanding of what it means to testify in a public (state) case as opposed to accusing someone of a criminal or immoral act. Anyone testifying in a state case would not be responsible for the claims of the state, because they are only reporting to the facts of the case, not making the case themselves. Scholars of the past and present have said that if we were to treat every witness as a slanderous individual, no one would ever testify and cases would never end as the defendant would immediately file a case of slander after trial. The victim’s testimony along with evidence gathered will make the case, and based on this the crime would be prosecuted.

In conclusion

In conclusion, we can see that historically and legally there is no basis for the claim that four witnesses must be produced to prosecute rape. A person reporting rape would not have to produce four witnesses; neither would one testifying in a rape case be considered slanderous for doing so. Prosecution of rape would proceed based on the integrity of the evidence and the case built against the accused. I encourage everyone to learn more about Islamic law, as most popular myths concerning the application and implementation of Islamic law come from misunderstanding, misreading, and (in the case of some) misinterpreting the corpus of Islamic law.

And God Almighty knows best, and may he grace our Prophet Muhammad .

Hood Bradford

Sources:
[1] Click here for the definition source. This definition is synonymous in meaning to the definitions given in classical Islamic legal works.
[2] Sunan Abı Dāwüd (4366)
[3] Aq∂iyat √l-Khulafā√ √l-Rāshidın, 2/840-845
[4] alMawsüat √l-Fiqhiyyah √l-Kuwaytiyyah, entry (فذق)

Posted by: Iserpas at May 10, 2008 6:41 AM