A Rapist-Friendly System

urstruly,

......... thanks for your explanation - now i am really ashamed of being a muslim !........... you see, i am not as shameless as echo thinks ..........

hamidm

Don`t be amazed. Islamic law is not based on equality but on equity. It is a social contract between different members of the society. The main clause of this social contract is that, in principle, Islamic law does not apply to non-Muslims. Now there are two types of non-Muslims:

1. People of the book and that includes Jews, Christians, Zorthostorians, and Hindus (the matter with Hindus is too controversial though). In this case these people are given autonomy to formulate their own laws based on their own values as they come from their books.

2. Non-Muslims, who are not of category#1, such as pagans, animists etc.. They are governed by the law that the Islamic government deems fit for them and it must be commensurate with the societal norms of the Muslim society.

Whether belonging to Category # 1 or #2 these people are exempt from any Islamic law such as law of Hudood or Islamic law of inheritence or non-interest based business etc. However, this exemption ends when they are dealing with a Muslim counterpart. In that case, the Islamic law supercedes any other. That is the reason when a non-Muslim man rapes a Muslim woman, the minimum punishment meted out to the rapist is the capital punishment.


teshah

pehle tolo phir bolo.

urstruly,

......... are you serious when you state that the death penalty can be imposed on a rapist when `` The rapist is a non-Muslim and he rapes a Muslim woman.`` ?????

........ is that fair ?........... what happened to equal rights under the law ???......... now you are really making me ashamed of being a muslim ! .......... how would you feel if they had a separate set of laws for muslims in flint ? ........... i am sure you would go crying to michael moore if that ever happened !

Re: # 1

`In addition, under Islamic law, the Capital punishment cannot be applied in the case of Rape. Rape does not fall into the category of Hadud law, therfore, in principle the Ta`azeer punishment for this crime should be less severe than the hadud`.

What is this `Ta`azeer punishment`? Do you mean courts have discretion to switch over to any law if the Allah`s law, i.e., Hadood, does not work. Does not Allah say that those who adjudicate under a law other than the one prescribed by Him are `Fasik`, `Fajir` and what not?

I have no faith in system of injustice in Pakistan, therefore, at one level I am glad that the Supreme Court overturned the original rulings of the kangroo courts such as the Anti-Terrorist Courts. I am against the Capital Punishment in Pakistan for the reasons of expediency since no one has faith in the charade called judicial system in Pakistan. Pakistan should have a moritorium on capital punishment until the judicial system is reformed to a reasonable level and public faith is restored in it.

In addition, under Islamic law, the Capital punishment cannot be applied in the case of Rape. Rape does not fall into the category of Hadud law, therfore, in principle the Ta`azeer punishment for this crime should be less severe than the hadud. There are only two cases when death penalty can be imposed on a rapist:

1. The rapist is a non-Muslim and he rapes a Muslim woman.

2. The rapist is Muslim and he voluntarily confesses that he had committed an act of rape. He must be given at least three chances to recant from his confession then if he is married he must be stonned to death in public place and if he is single he is flogged with 80 leashes on his back in a public place.

Mukhtar Mai`s plight is truly heart-rending. All Pakistanis must come out in her support. Only then can justice be served.