Sharia Law: Core Principles or Courtroom Koran
Circuit Court, Hillsborough County Florida: Mansour v. Islamic Education Center of Tampa
There has been much concern voiced over Sharia Law, the body of rules and instruction which "guides all aspects of Muslim life including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings." On the one hand, its proponents call for its application worldwide, believing its mandates and proscriptions are superior to secular law and that it is God ordained, having the ability to lead its adherents into a more righteous life as defined by Islam. On the other hand, its opponents call for it to be banned in America (and in other democratic/pluralistic nations) as a draconian throwback to medieval times which oppresses women and minorities, is intolerant (and worse) of other religions and which condones (or tolerates) brutal punishment for offenders.
Like so much of life these days, your view of these issues depends on where you stand. But sometimes, thorny theoretical issues become thornier real issues. The Mansour case may be the first ripple in a rising tide of Sharia law, or a mere instance of religious freedom being equally afforded Muslim-Americans.
Again, your stand determines how this sits.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Mansour brought an action against a local mosque after he and other trustees claimed they were improperly discharged in 2002, and after the mosque received $2.2 million from Florida in compensation for use of its land for a road project. This lawsuit, at least in part, is about control of the money. But before the parties got to court, the dispute was supposedly submitted to an a’lim, “a Muslim scholar trained in Islam and Islamic law…” Apparently not satisfied with his ruling, the ousted trustees filed this court action against the mosque.
As the court put it, “This case will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic Law.” Its brief ruling was that there would be a hearing “to determine whether Islamic dispute resolution procedures have been followed in this matter.”
Is this one small step for plaintiff Ghassan Mansour, and one giant step for an international Caliphate? Or just a local judge resolving a local dispute that was submitted to a local arbitrator who just happened to be an A’lim?
Do the trustees have a prayer? Does the Mosque? Does anyone but the litigants care?
The tougher questions are these: Can freedom of religion as we have known it survive the demands of Islam? Or is freedom of religion as we have known it the only way Islam will become peculiarly American, embracing religious diversity and respecting the rights of others?
God only knows.
