By Cyril Anderson

Part 4 of 4

Crime and punishment in the Islamic world and outside

  Crime and punishment are handled differently within an Islamic state and outside.  Within an Islamic state, a court system can be set up to settle disputes and try cases according to the Islamic legal code.  In non-Muslim countries, the Muslim citizen is required to be a respectful and model citizen, abiding by the laws of the country he is living in, so long as this law does not impede his personal ability to practice his religion.  For example, in Islam, homosexuality is forbidden, and in an Islamic country implementing the Islamic legal code, a Muslim citizen of sound mind proved beyond a shadow of a doubt by witnesses to have committed such acts is subject to heavy punishment.  But while living in the West, where law accepts homosexuality, Muslim citizens must abide by the law, although they must forbid such acts to themselves.  That is, although the law of the land does not enforce the Islamic code of conduct, the pious Muslim must police himself and avoid Islamically prohibited, yet legal by Western standards, behaviour, such as adultery, premarital sex, drinking alcohol, gambling, prostitution, and homosexuality, as well as other activities, such as murder, theft, and rape, which though illegal in the non-Muslim world, are not subject there to Islamic punishment.  The most the Muslim citizen can do in the case where he is in a religious minority status is share his perspective in a peaceful manner with others, trying to convince others through reason as to why he believes certain things to be wrong that the society at large deems acceptable.  Muslims are not allowed to try to impose the Islamic law through force on a nation in which Islam is not the religion of the vast majority.  Indeed, even in an Islamic state applying Islamic law where Islam is the majority religion, part of the Islamic law includes protection of non-Muslim groups, allowing them to set up their own courts.   A Muslim is not required, however, by Islam, to abide by laws that violate his ability to practice his religion as an individual.  For example, a Muslim has every right to resist, albeit, as peacefully as possible, laws that try to forbid him from praying, or in the case of a woman, laws that try to prevent her from observing the religious requirement of hijab.

It should be noted that those who are to judge cases in Islamic countries following the Islamic legal code, must meet stringent qualifications of education and experience, much as do judges here.  They must demonstrate their impeccable knowledge of the principles and details of Islamic law and must demonstrate justice themselves in their character. 

Another element to be kept in mind when examining what may seem to be, from a Western perspective, heavy penalties for certain crimes.  It must be kept in mind that the heavy penalties are based upon a high burden of proof for criminal punishments with strict safeguards for individual rights, such as right to privacy and right against unlawful search and surveillance.  Similar to the west, for example, evidence or witness gained through unreasonable surveillance that violates privacy is inadmissible.  Also similar to Western notions of justice, sentencing details are based on individual details such as extenuating circumstances, intent of the offender, age of offender (special rules for young offenders), and mental capacity of the offender (leniency for the insane or those with diminished capacity)

Another fact that should be noted is that there is great flexibility in the law.  Most things are permissible, only a small range are forbidden, and a manageable list of things are obligatory.  The permitted, and optional, are, as stated before, sorted into suggested, neutral, and recommended against.  People have a great deal of freedom to choose amongst the things that are not forbidden or obligatory, which covers most things.  Islam does not tell you what food to eat, or what clothes to wear.  It provides broad guidelines or principles as to what are the acceptable limits, but people have broad latitude within those limits to choose how they will fulfill them in their time, place, and culture.  For example, a Muslim is forbidden from eating alcohol, blood, carrion, pork, certain seafood, as well as animals that are scavengers or predators.  All else is permitted, and a Muslim may choose anything he wishes from the permitted list in whatever culinary combination he wishes.   Another example is the dress code for Muslims.  Muslim men and women are given general guidelines as to how much of their bodies need to be covered for public modesty.  But this does not restrict them to the fashion or clothing style of any particular region.  A person, for example, does not need to dress like a 7^th century desert Arab in order to be considered a good Muslim in authentic Islam.  Authentic Islam recognizes and allows for the diversity of local color of humanity within the general limits required by the religion.  This allowance for diversity within reasonable limits is one of the great reasons for the spread of Islam over all regions of the globe.

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