Tag: U.S. foreign policy

This article is the first of an ongoing series that will examine what shari’ah is, how the media often get it wrong, and how it’s being used to create fear of Islam and Muslims and to justify continued military defense of “American values.”

by Hussein Rashid

Every time I hear someone on TV mention “shari’ah,” I think of the movie The Princess Bride and the line “I do not think it means what you think it means.” I am amused that shari’ah has come to mean “law” as a canonical system for how Muslims are to behave and act. Weak states use the term shari’ah in lieu of “law,” un-inquisitive press use the term the same way, and Muslims ignorant of their own history adopt that understanding, reinforcing the cycle.

Shari’ah literally means a way or a path, usually to a watering hole. Traditionally, it is meant to guide Muslims as to how they should fulfill their religious obligations. The vast majority of criminal and civil issues were handled by state authorities through a systemized code of law. This legal system was called qanun, from the Greek word kanon. With the rise of the modern nation-state, states seeking to be authentically “Islamic” adopted a wide variety of laws and dubbed them shari’ah, even though in the classical system they would be qanun. Continue Reading →

This article is the first of an ongoing series that will examine what shari’ah is, how the media often get it wrong, and how it’s being used to create fear of Islam and Muslims and to justify continued military defense of “American values.”

by Hussein Rashid

Every time I hear someone on TV mention “shari’ah,” I think of the movie The Princess Bride and the line “I do not think it means what you think it means.” I am amused that shari’ah has come to mean “law” as a canonical system for how Muslims are to behave and act. Weak states use the term shari’ah in lieu of “law,” un-inquisitive press use the term the same way, and Muslims ignorant of their own history adopt that understanding, reinforcing the cycle.

Shari’ah literally means a way or a path, usually to a watering hole. Traditionally, it is meant to guide Muslims as to how they should fulfill their religious obligations. The vast majority of criminal and civil issues were handled by state authorities through a systemized code of law. This legal system was called qanun, from the Greek word kanon. With the rise of the modern nation-state, states seeking to be authentically “Islamic” adopted a wide variety of laws and dubbed them shari’ah, even though in the classical system they would be qanun. Continue Reading →

This article is the first of an ongoing series that will examine what shari’ah is, how the media often get it wrong, and how it’s being used to create fear of Islam and Muslims and to justify continued military defense of “American values.”

by Hussein Rashid

Every time I hear someone on TV mention “shari’ah,” I think of the movie The Princess Bride and the line “I do not think it means what you think it means.” I am amused that shari’ah has come to mean “law” as a canonical system for how Muslims are to behave and act. Weak states use the term shari’ah in lieu of “law,” un-inquisitive press use the term the same way, and Muslims ignorant of their own history adopt that understanding, reinforcing the cycle.

Shari’ah literally means a way or a path, usually to a watering hole. Traditionally, it is meant to guide Muslims as to how they should fulfill their religious obligations. The vast majority of criminal and civil issues were handled by state authorities through a systemized code of law. This legal system was called qanun, from the Greek word kanon. With the rise of the modern nation-state, states seeking to be authentically “Islamic” adopted a wide variety of laws and dubbed them shari’ah, even though in the classical system they would be qanun. Continue Reading →