.... Third, the punishments for criminal behavior cannot be separated from the evidentiary rules -- equally shariah! -- that provide for their application (e.g., multiple eye-witnesses). In practical terms, in other words, short of confession, rules on such things as adultery or fornication function almost entirely as moral exhortations.
God-consciousness spawned by shariah, not fear of being punished, sustains these ideals. Of course, many Americans will object that such issues should not be subject to any rules or religious exhortations at all. But given some of our increasingly worrisome realities (out-of-wedlock births, etc.), perhaps this would make for fruitful conversation.
[COMMENT 1] You mention punishments are only "a small sliver" of shariah. How do all four fiqh view apostasy? My understanding is that all four view it as punishable by death. Could you shed some light on that?
[COMMENT 2] When advocates for Shari'ah in the US and the West make their case do they say - "we want to introduce shari'ah" and then qualify it with all the bad parts that they think should not be applied? No, they say that want to introduce Shari'ah, and without an added qualification, that means in it's entirety - with all the misogynist and bigoted discrimination and biased treatment of religious and sexual minorities, and draconian criminal punishments included. [The Huffington Post] Read more
