Monday, October 09, 2006

Sharing the true values of Sharia

By Irfan Yusuf - ON LINE opinion - Australia
Friday, 10 March 2006

On Thursday, February 23, 2006 Treasurer and Prime Ministerial aspirant Peter Costello delivered a speech to an audience at the Sydney Institute. Mr Costello provided some personal reflections on Australia’s developing culture and citizenship. Within a few hours, a veritable media circus began.
Sadly, most migrant Muslim leaders bought into the circus, many expressing views on Mr Costello’s comments without having read his speech.

I read Mr Costello’s actual speech: Peter Costello said anyone who believes Sharia can co-exist with Australian law and Australian values should leave the country. But if one compares the five basic principles of Sharia to the six values espoused by Mr Costello, one finds they are virtually identical. Perhaps this is what Australian imams mean when they state in their sermons that Australia is a more Islamic country than most Muslim-majority states.

Some pseudo-conservative commentators present Sharia as a system of medieval criminal punishments. But for some 300,000 Australian Muslims, Sharia represents little more than ethics (including honesty and enterprise) and liturgy (how to perform prayers, weddings and funerals).
As shown above, the ethics of Sharia do not pose a problem for Australia. Further, Sharia liturgy has been practised in Australia for over a century. Indeed, Australia law allows a number of religious legal systems (such as Jewish religious law) to operate in the contexts of family law, estates and other areas.

Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed brought Sharia as the outer manifestation of religious values. He also brought an inner manifestation, which has been given a variety of labels by Muslims but which is commonly known in the West as Sufism.
A tiny minority of Muslims seek to establish Sharia across the world without Sufism. They are the source of virtually all terrorist groups in the Muslim world. Their theology is regarded by mainstream Muslims as isolationist and fringe. They distort Sharia by imposing it on people without the inner discipline of Sufism. They are openly hostile to Sufi tradition.

These people seek to destroy Islam from within. They are arguably more of a threat to Muslims than non-Muslims. Hence, the majority of their victims are Muslims. Mr Costello would like to see such people leave Australia. Most Muslims, on the other hand, would prefer to see these people leave our planet. These people distort our perceptions about Sharia. Most Australians regard Sharia as purely consisting of draconian medieval punishments. Mr Costello’s own inaccurate comments about Sharia are a manifestation of distorted perceptions. Instead of criticising inevitable and understandable ignorance, Muslim leaders need to educate the community about their faith and values.

No comments:

Monday, October 09, 2006

Sharing the true values of Sharia
By Irfan Yusuf - ON LINE opinion - Australia
Friday, 10 March 2006

On Thursday, February 23, 2006 Treasurer and Prime Ministerial aspirant Peter Costello delivered a speech to an audience at the Sydney Institute. Mr Costello provided some personal reflections on Australia’s developing culture and citizenship. Within a few hours, a veritable media circus began.
Sadly, most migrant Muslim leaders bought into the circus, many expressing views on Mr Costello’s comments without having read his speech.

I read Mr Costello’s actual speech: Peter Costello said anyone who believes Sharia can co-exist with Australian law and Australian values should leave the country. But if one compares the five basic principles of Sharia to the six values espoused by Mr Costello, one finds they are virtually identical. Perhaps this is what Australian imams mean when they state in their sermons that Australia is a more Islamic country than most Muslim-majority states.

Some pseudo-conservative commentators present Sharia as a system of medieval criminal punishments. But for some 300,000 Australian Muslims, Sharia represents little more than ethics (including honesty and enterprise) and liturgy (how to perform prayers, weddings and funerals).
As shown above, the ethics of Sharia do not pose a problem for Australia. Further, Sharia liturgy has been practised in Australia for over a century. Indeed, Australia law allows a number of religious legal systems (such as Jewish religious law) to operate in the contexts of family law, estates and other areas.

Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed brought Sharia as the outer manifestation of religious values. He also brought an inner manifestation, which has been given a variety of labels by Muslims but which is commonly known in the West as Sufism.
A tiny minority of Muslims seek to establish Sharia across the world without Sufism. They are the source of virtually all terrorist groups in the Muslim world. Their theology is regarded by mainstream Muslims as isolationist and fringe. They distort Sharia by imposing it on people without the inner discipline of Sufism. They are openly hostile to Sufi tradition.

These people seek to destroy Islam from within. They are arguably more of a threat to Muslims than non-Muslims. Hence, the majority of their victims are Muslims. Mr Costello would like to see such people leave Australia. Most Muslims, on the other hand, would prefer to see these people leave our planet. These people distort our perceptions about Sharia. Most Australians regard Sharia as purely consisting of draconian medieval punishments. Mr Costello’s own inaccurate comments about Sharia are a manifestation of distorted perceptions. Instead of criticising inevitable and understandable ignorance, Muslim leaders need to educate the community about their faith and values.

No comments: