Michael Abrahams | Sharia law, and why radical Islam concerns me

Recently, I came across two news items that simultaneously piqued my interest and disturbed me immensely. One was the story of a woman in Iran who received 74 lashes for refusing to wear a hijab. The other was a news report on some Muslims attempting to enforce Sharia law in London.

Regarding the incident in Iran, police arrested 33-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Roya Heshmati in April 2023 for posting a photo without a hijab on social media, accusing her of producing vulgar content, encouraging people to commit corruption, and injuring public modesty. On January 3, she was whipped on her neck, back, legs and buttocks in a room she equated to a “medieval torture chamber”. She was also fined $285. According to the court’s website, Heshmati “encouraged permissiveness (by appearing) disgracefully in busy public places in Tehran” and was punished “in accordance with the law and with Sharia”. The judiciary initially sentenced Heshmati to nearly 14 years in prison before reducing the sentence.

This is not an isolated incident in Iran. In 2022, a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, died after being beaten by Iran’s notorious ‘morality police’. And in August 2023, Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old girl, died after sustaining a head injury during an encounter with Tehran’s religious law enforcers.

The report on attempts to institute Sharia law in London also concerned me. It was an undated video about controversial Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary, speaking of instituting Sharia law in Walthamstow, a town in east London. According to Choudary, “So we are here to tell you that Islam and Sharia is unstoppable in Europe.” Choudary and his crew intended to ban drinking, gambling and even playing music. Sharia law also includes stoning for adultery, cutting off hands for stealing, and death for renouncing Islam.

GOD’S COMMAND

In Arabic, Sharia means “the clear, well-trodden path to water.” However, Sharia law, Islam’s legal system, regarded as God’s command for Muslims, is violent and oppressive. For example, in Indonesia, public whippings have been prescribed for offenders for a range of charges, including gambling, adultery, drinking alcohol, having gay or premarital sex, and even cuddling in public. Also, expressing atheism and religious scepticism can get you executed in at least 13 countries, all majority Muslim, with Sharia law playing a role.

Defenders of Islam will argue that not all Muslims agree with the enforcement of Sharia law, which is true. However, it is practised extensively in many countries, and a significant proportion of Muslims do support it. A Pew Research Center survey published in 2013 found that a majority of Muslims around the world believe Sharia law should prevail in the countries in which they live. However, most favoured religious freedom for people of other faiths. The problem is that those who enforce these laws often wish to prescribe them for non-Muslims as well.

For example, in 2021, in Kano, a Muslim-majority state in Nigeria, the Islamic police ordered shops only to use headless mannequins to advertise clothing. According to Haruna Ibn-Sina, the commander of the Sharia police known as the hisbah, “Islam frowns on idolatry,” adding, “With the head on, it looks like a human being.” Ibn-Sina also wants the headless mannequins covered at all times because to show “the shape of the breast, the shape of the bottom, is contrary to the teachings of Sharia”. The legal system is supposed to apply only to Muslims, but non-Muslims have also come under pressure to adhere to the rulings. Similarly, non-Muslim women in Walthamstow and other areas of London with large Muslim populations have reported being harassed about their mode of dress.

SHOULD BE REJECTED

Hateful Islamophobia and xenophobia do exist and should be rejected. But there are genuine and rational concerns regarding Sharia law and the establishment of immigrant Muslim communities. For example, it has been estimated that by 2030 there will be 60 million Muslims living in Europe, and the Islamisation of countries in that continent, including Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden, is well documented. However, many Muslims live in closed communities, do not assimilate, ignore aspects of the existing laws in the countries they settle in, and institute their own rules, including Sharia law. For example, according to a report by France’s Directorate-General for Internal Security, as many as 150 urban districts are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists, and police have limited access to these locations. In areas such as these, there is often discrimination against girls in public schools, and children and young people are subjected to Islamic indoctrination. With indoctrination, there is the risk of radicalisation, and with that, violence.

It is unfortunate that when these concerns are expressed, there is a tendency for those sharing them to be labelled as bigoted, intolerant or Islamophobic. For those of us who are humanists, however, these religious dogmas and doctrines are disturbing as they are an affront to human rights, and the spread of such ideology is cause for concern.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.