* Posts by kaashif

3 publicly visible posts • joined 1 Feb 2007

Phone insurance firm reveals Sharia rules policy

kaashif
Alert

There is no country in world that applies Sharia properly

FYI all, it is a well known fact among many active Muslims and Islamic law specialists that there is not a single government or country in the world that truly conforms to islamic principles or sharia. For a start Islam mandates that the rulers are fairly elected (shoora), that there is an independent judiciary with a supreme court which has the power to hold the executive, the state and thier powers to account and impeach them (qadi muthalim), these 2 principles alone (there are many more) would rule out most Muslim governments. Also the only style of government that iis truly recognised by Sharia law (embodying the mentioned principles) is a Caliphate - look it up in wikipedia.

Pakistan blocks YouTube

kaashif
Stop

Tolerate all those who tolerate tolerance!

The highly simplistic diatribe of some reg commentators, on Pakistan riddled with so many judgmental assumptions and the oh-so superior air of secular liberalism or civility is a little puke-worthy. There are so many presumptions about the nature of the Pakistani government, Pakistani society, and religious people in general I don't know where to begin, except to say that a real rational intellectual being does not use 'personality assassination' tactics against another ideology to undermine or smear it rather than actually dealing with the point at hand. Musharraf's Pakistan has not exactly been a bastion or defender of Islam, or Muslim people, he is an outright dictator who rigs elections; was installed and is supported by the Americans for the potential oil & oil transit revenues from the Baluchistan province. The Pakistan government commonly uses knee-jerk pseudo-religious tactics to divert attention away from real political problems - in this case videos about the rigged elections. There will be a clash of civilisations unless we in the west (not to mention people in the 3rd world) stop assuming that our values are objective, universal, rational, or the measure of civilisation. People treat freedom of speech like it's a universally accepted idea, sacred, and a divine obligation from god to always exercise to the furthest extent even if it serves no other purpose but causing trouble. Fundamentalist Muslims (contrary to media sensationalism) are open to criticism & discussion, but we (on the other side) can't start any discussion when one side assumes the parameters and barometer of truth are "core values" which are not up for question, e.g. libertarianism, free speech, & secularism, or the assumption that religion has to always measure up to these. For a start does free speech mean YouTube should allow Nazi propoganda? Does free speech mean allowing slander, libel, false accusation, or defamation? Propaganda for the Tamil Tigers (AKA LITE), Shiv Sena, Al-Qaida or ETA? Do we really have free speech anywhere? There are so many restrictions: privacy laws, OFCOM regulations, race relations laws, the press complaints commission, the official secrets act, and many more acts of law place responsible restrictions on freedom of speech. As one reg commentator said, there is a difference between rational criticism, and simply blatant abuse, or attack. Retorting "freedom of speech" is not a panacea for these problems, nor an argument in itself, nor a way to endear people to the idea of freedom speech, people need convincing not patronising postulation.

For the record I am not Pakistani, although it shouldn't matter even if I was!

Please don't burn or stone women, pleads Canadian town

kaashif

They only manifest common stereotypes

I laughed profusely when I read this, although I must state that such stereotypes about Islamic law (shariah) & Muslims still exist in much of the western world, continuesly perpetuated in the media or by politicians, and even by Reg readers it seems. It is an arrogant stereotype that was created during the colonial era, to justify the need to invade Africa or Asia (or Iraq) to "civilise" those "Barbarians", to teach them about freedom, democracy, and Human Rights. It is such a pervasive stereotype that a very small minority of ignorant Muslims started believing that Islam actually said that. Please don't patronise Muslims, and don't insult people, Islam does not say those things. No Muslim government practices those things, nevermind that none of them purely implement Islamic law either, just like many African Christian states e.g. Zimbabwe, or Uganda (& the 'Lords Army') are not representitive of Christianity. How would you feel if you went to Dubai, or India to work and you were told, "Leave your way of life behind, we don't get high on cocaine or heroin everyday here, black people are equal citizens, we don't call women witches and burn them on the stake, we don't have sex with children, we don't punish rape with only 2 years sentences, we don't pass children around the neighbourhood in pedophile sex rings, we don't beat our wives while drunk, and we don't 'hang, draw and quarter' people.". You would laugh and feel insulted.