My Big Fat Sharia Wedding
The discussion of Sharia Law has picked up a bit in the media lately, primarily due to an Oklahoma state constitutional amendment banning Sharia Law which was passed by 70 percent of the voters this month. Because religious family arbitration courts have been a part of the American fabric for many generations, it has naturally been assumed that extending this practice to Muslims employing Sharia Law would be a welcome gesture of religious tolerance and a natural accommodation of Islamic traditions. The big disconnect regarding Sharia Law, however, is that it clearly contradicts many civil rights that Americans take for granted. As you will see below, Sharia Law is misogynic, racist, and religiously discriminatory. Affording it any sort of acceptance in public policy only encourages Muslims to engage in such shameful practices as marital rape, wife beating, and honor killing.
The principal source document for Sharia Law in the United States is The Reliance of the Traveller (‘Umdat al-Salik) written by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 1368). This volume, translated into English by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, is called the Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, and it bears the approval stamps of Al-Azhar University in Cairo and the U.S. International Institute of Islamic Thought. While this volume represents Shafi’i school of Islamic law, it is identical with 75 percent of the provisions of the other three Sunni schools of Islamic law. The references throughout this essay are to the provisions of this document.










