Spotlight On Islam

Sharia Law and Political Islam

A Legal System at Odds with Freedom

Subtitle:

From amputations to apostasy laws, Sharia is not just a religious code—it’s a political system. Where it rules, freedom shrinks. And yet, its revival remains central to the Islamic world’s political ambitions.

📍 Introduction

Sharia (Arabic: شريعة‎) is often portrayed in the West as a set of spiritual rules governing prayer, fasting, and charity. But in reality, Sharia is a comprehensive legal, moral, and political system that governs every aspect of life—from criminal law and family matters to international warfare and political governance.

And make no mistake: where it is implemented, Sharia often overrides human rights, conflicts with secular law, and imposes legal inequalities based on religion, gender, and personal belief.

🏛️ 1. Types of Islamic Governance: How Sharia Is Enforced Today

🟥 1. Theocracy – Iran (Vilayat-e Faqih)

Iran is a Shia Islamic Republic based on the concept of Wilayat al-Faqih (“Guardianship of the Jurist”), formulated by Ayatollah Khomeini.
The Supreme Leader (currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) holds more power than the elected president or parliament.
Sharia is state law:
- Apostasy punishable by death.
- Adultery = stoning.
- Hijab = mandatory.
- Blasphemy = criminal offense.

“Islamic government does not correspond to a democracy. It is based on the rule of God.” — Ayatollah Khomeini [1]

🟨 2. Hybrid Systems – Pakistan and Nigeria

🇵🇰 Pakistan

Constitutionally Islamic.
Blasphemy laws (Sections 295–298 of the Penal Code) carry the death penalty.
Federal Shariah Court can strike down any law deemed un-Islamic.
Hudood Ordinances (1979) introduced punishments for:
- Adultery: Stoning.
- Theft: Amputation.
- Drinking: Lashings.

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, spent nearly 10 years on death row for allegedly insulting Muhammad.

🇳🇬 Nigeria

Sharia is implemented in 12 northern states, mostly in criminal and family law.
Known for:
- Floggings for fornication
- Amputations for theft
- Death by stoning for adultery
Non-Muslims technically exempt, but in practice often caught in the system.

🟦 3. Secular-Islamic Tension – Tunisia and Turkey

🇹🇳 Tunisia

Considered the most secular Arab state after the Arab Spring.
Constitution guarantees freedom of belief—but Islam is still the state religion.
Islamist parties like Ennahda push for increased Sharia influence.

🇹🇷 Turkey

Founded on laïcité (French-style secularism) by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP has since reversed secular reforms:
- Mandatory religious curriculum in schools.
- Gender segregation in some public spaces.
- Increased use of Islamic rhetoric in law and governance.

"Democracy is like a train. You ride it until you reach your destination, then you get off."
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (quote attributed widely, though he later denied it)

⚔️ 2. Key Components of Sharia Law

🔨 Hudud Punishments

These are fixed Quranic punishments deemed "limits set by Allah", and include:

Crime	Punishment	Source
Theft	Amputation of hand	Quran 5:38
Adultery	Stoning to death (married), 100 lashes (unmarried)	Quran 24:2 + Hadith
Drinking	40–80 lashes	Hadith
Apostasy	Death	Sahih Bukhari 9:84:57
Blasphemy	Death (in practice)	Hadith + Fiqh

These are not relics of the past—they are applied in modern states like Iran, Afghanistan (under Taliban), Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and parts of Pakistan.

💸 Dhimmi Status and Jizya

Non-Muslims (Jews and Christians, called dhimmis) under Islamic rule are given second-class legal status:

Must pay the jizya tax “with willing submission” while “feeling themselves subdued” (Quran 9:29).
Cannot:
- Build new churches or temples.
- Publicly display religious symbols.
- Hold positions of authority over Muslims.

Even in historical “Golden Age” Islamic empires, dhimmis were segregated, barred from military service, and lived under legal inferiority.

🕌 Caliphate Aspiration

The idea of reviving the Islamic Caliphate remains central to Islamist ideology.

ISIS declared a global caliphate in 2014.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, active in over 40 countries, seeks to restore the caliphate through non-violent revolution.
Muslim Brotherhood also aims to establish Islamic law gradually through political means.

These groups argue that Islam is not just a religion but a total system—and no Muslim can truly practice Islam without an Islamic government.

“The Islamic nation must be ruled only by what Allah has revealed.” — ISIS Dabiq Magazine [2]

🧠 3. Sharia vs Human Rights: Incompatibilities

Human Rights Principle	Sharia Contradiction
Freedom of Religion	Apostasy = death; blasphemy = death
Equality Before the Law	Dhimmi system; testimony of woman = ½ of a man (Quran 2:282)
Gender Equality	Male inheritance = 2x female (Quran 4:11); polygamy allowed
Freedom of Expression	Speech critical of Islam = capital crime in many Islamic states
Legal Protection for LGBTQ+	Homosexuality = death or flogging (based on Hadith and Fiqh)

Sharia is fundamentally theocratic, not democratic. There is no freedom from religion, and laws are derived not from the consent of the governed but from interpretations of divine will.

📚 Academic and Legal Sources

Noah Feldman, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Princeton University Press, 2008)
→ While sympathetic to Sharia, Feldman inadvertently highlights how deeply incompatible it is with secular governance.
Sharia Source – Harvard Program on Islamic Law
→ Repository of classical and modern interpretations of Sharia law. Useful for primary source references and comparative law.
UN Human Rights Reports
→ Repeatedly cite Sharia-based legal systems as violative of international human rights law.

🧨 Final Verdict: A System of Law, or a System of Control?

Despite efforts by Islamic apologists to present Sharia as “misunderstood,” the facts are plain: where Sharia is implemented, basic human rights vanish. Its code is not a moral compass—it’s a legal straitjacket, forged in 7th-century Arabia and imposed through divine authoritarianism.

Political Islam is not simply a cultural force. It’s a totalitarian movement. And Sharia law is its constitution.

Any attempt to “reform” Islam while retaining Sharia is a contradiction. As long as Sharia remains at the heart of Islamic governance, the conflict between Islam and modernity will not be resolved—it will deepen.

📚 References:

Ayatollah Khomeini, Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist, 1970.
Dabiq Magazine, Issue 1–15 (published by ISIS, 2014–2016).
Noah Feldman, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Princeton University Press, 2008.
Sharia Source – Harvard Law School Program on Islamic Law, https://shariasource.blog
United Nations Human Rights Council, Reports on Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia (2019–2024).
Pew Research, “Legal Restrictions on Religion by Region,” 2021.