Is Islamic Law Only for Muslims

Is Islamic Law Only for Muslims (Updated) Mohammad M Rahman Those inferiority-complexed Muslims who are too afraid of being labeled as intolerant propose the deviant theory that Islamic law, God’s law is only for Muslims under Islamic jurisdiction. They believe in the equality of Islamic law with secular law, and in many cases, secular law is even superior and dominant and commits latent disbelief, but Islamic law must be enforced also on non-Muslims under Islamic jurisdiction. The only exception is that they cannot be forcefully converted 1, so all legal issues based on this exception could be seen only through non-Muslim religious law. This means Islamic law will have dominance while non-Muslim religious law, but not secular law, will have limited activity in very limited legal domains. Why these so-called Muslim lawmakers do not perceive the effects non-Islamic laws will have over the majority of Muslims, rather they see the effect of Islamic laws on the minority non-Muslims. They care for non-Muslims more than Muslims. Do you see in the rest of the world there is an exception for minorities to follow their own legal system? Every country in the world has a dominant legal system applicable to all ethnicities under its jurisdiction. Why do Muslims have to be so meek, self-humilating, and defeatist? These secularists use Surah Kafirun to justify their secularism against Islamic rule: 1. Say, “O disbelievers. 2. I do not worship what you worship. 3. Nor do you worship what I worship. 4. Nor do I serve what you serve. 5. Nor do you serve what I serve. 6. To you, your religion, and to me, my religion.” But they fail to see that this Surah implicitly proposes a political, cultural, social, religious, and demographic separation between Muslims and non-Muslims. This means Muslims politically must have their own jurisdiction as well, and all the people in this jurisdiction must be governed by Islamic law, including non-Muslims. It is also in Islamic law to allow non-Muslims to practice their religion in limited domains, such as rituals and faith. Also, this Surah asks Muslims not to take part in or practice un-Islamic acts, such as those of Muslims living as minorities in non-Muslim countries must reject LGBTQ, secularism, etc. When this Surah was revealed in Mecca, Muslims were the minorities under the idol-worshipping pagan government but when the prophet created the Islamic state of Medina everyone had to submit to Islamic rule. Many newly converted Muslims immigrated while many non-Muslims emigrated. First, let us understand the consequences of this misguidance when one says non-Muslims are excluded from following Islamic law. Secular law and Communism originated in the West. If minority non-Muslims in Muslim-majority countries can appeal to such far-originated law, due to colonialism and neo-colonialism, they surely must be more deserving to adhere to Islamic law: their majority population of Muslims. As most social and legal aspects are being run by secular law in Muslim countries this adherence to secular law impedes Islamic legal activity, Islamic legal research, and Islamic legal maturity. This non-Muslim adherence also makes Muslims participate in making Islam insignificant. Also, can non-Muslims under Islamic jurisdiction engage in business activities of brothels, liquor stores, casinos, nightclubs, perform homosexuality, bestiality, and lesbianism as family and couples, or perform public sexual acts as happens in some European countries? In other words, if Islamic law is only for Muslims, everything is permissible for non-Muslims on their standards and someone else’s vision of tolerance. God, Prophet, and Islam have no say in this and are totally ceremonial and symbolic while Muslims becoming a cultural, cognitive, and Islamic political minority in their countries. What is the evidence that Islamic law must also be enforced on non-Muslims under Islamic jurisdiction? There are several pieces of evidence of varied themes: a) Legislation is only for God 2 b) Non-Muslims are under 1 2 Let there be no compulsion in religion (Quran 2:256) The command (or the judgment) is for none but Allah (Quran 12:40) divine address3 c) When God says in the Quran “O ye who believes..” or when Quran commands or prohibits something then in the jurisdictional sense it means the believers must implement such laws or supervise the implementation i.e. the believers must be the highest authority in their jurisdiction without the restriction of the application of the law d) Quran commands the Prophets to judge between the people whether believers or disbelievers, with justice4 5 6 but secular law, cannot be just, only God’s law Islamic law can be just e) The legal policy of “Blocking the Means” is meant to avert and/or minimize harmful consequences and this is not only limited to Muslims e) Must remember divine law is for the benefit of humanity and creation. or else the consequence is Quran 30:41 f) Many laws of Islam are addressed on the basis of genus and not faith. For example, when the Quran commands to cut thieves' hands, lash the adulterer and adulteress or punish those who wage hiraba etc all these address specific categories of people that include both believers and disbelievers. Which laws of Islam are only for Muslims and which laws are for both Muslims and non-Muslims? You will see on the site www.lawsofquran.com beside every verse either one of the acronyms FBL and NFBL or both. Sometimes both because a legal text may contain both aspects of FBL and NFBL. FBL means faith-based law that its performance and Implementation must be by Muslims on themselves or on other Muslims or nonMuslims. This is because such a law requires Islamic faith and religious intention. FBL is primarily spiritual in nature such as rituals and its rewards are mainly in the hereafter. An example of a law that requires Muslims to implement on non-Muslims is the prohibition of mosque management by non-Muslims. NFBL means non-faithbased law that is its performance and Implementation may be done by both Muslims and non-Muslims on Muslims and non-Muslims. This is because such a law does not require Islamic faith and religious intention. NFBL is primarily for the structure and dynamics of worldly life and its benefits such as in our individual and social psychology, society, economy, morality, politics and governance, war and peace, some parts of family and marriage, etc. It is meant to support our worldly life. Let's take an example from the collection of Islamic taxes: There can be Muslim and non-Muslim Islamic tax collectors and there can be Muslim and non-Muslim Islamic tax recipients. Another example, there can be a Muslim or non-Muslim person who cuts the thief’s hand and there can be a Muslim or the law of hijab for all adult women, etc. Some examples of NFBL (non-faith-based law) that both Muslims and non-Muslims must follow are:          Quran 4:34 the patriarch's social construct Laws of Islamic inheritance Laws of divorce such as waiting period or compensation etc. Islamic tax recipients Law of Hijab Islamic criminal law and law of evidence Islamic economic and financial laws except Zakat and Khumus but Jizya is from non-Muslims Islamic laws of diet, which have a health, ecological, and economic basis. The only exception is nonMuslims are not required to slaughter in the name of Allah in the jurisdictional sense because that would require forced conversion to the Islamic faith Equity, proportionality, Islamic means, and Islamic ends. Some examples of FBL, or "faith-based law," which requires its followers to have faith and a religious intention such as pleasing God or for the sake of God etc, are:    3 Islamic rituals such as Islamic faith, fasting, Hajj Islamic tax such as Zakat, Khumus Islamic theocratic meritocracy and governance O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. (Quran 4:1) 4 ˹We instructed him:˺ “O David! We have surely made you an authority in the land, so judge between people with the truth. And do not follow ˹your˺ desires or they will lead you astray from Allah’s Way 5 And judge, [O Muhammad], between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you (Quran 5:49) 6 So if they come to you ˹O Prophet˺, either judge between them or turn away from them. (Quran 5:42)  Islamic marriage ceremony in the mosque Further Reading ---. “Political and Legal System of Islam.” Www.academia.edu, www.academia.edu/60559324/Political_and_Legal_System_of_Islam ---. “The Islamic Society: The Sociological Perspective.” Www.academia.edu, www.academia.edu/45005183/The_Islamic_Society_The_Sociological_Perspective ---. “Secularized Self-Destructive World.” Www.academia.edu, www.academia.edu/44800885/Secularized_Self_Destructive_World.