Green Energy
Bernard Lewis gave a talk the other day on the troubles the Western world is having with Islam. Here, he proposes a very good question with regards to the anger in the Muslim world over the Jyllands-Posten cartoons:
What was much more at issue was another ban, and that is on insulting the Prophet, which is, of course, an offense. This raises a number of interesting questions that I think are of direct relevance to the whole issue at the present time.
Insulting the Prophet is an offense in Muslim law. This raises two issues: one of substantive law, the other of jurisdiction. Muslim jurists discuss this at some length, and there is a considerable body of case law concerning it in Muslim states.
The first point of disagreement: What is the range of jurisdiction of Muslim law? And here you have two opinions. According to the Shi'a and a minority among the Sunnis, Muslim law applies to Muslims wherever they may be in the world. A Muslim who commits an offense against Muslim law, wherever he may be in the world, is subject to Muslim law and must therefore be punished in accordance with Muslim law.
The majority Sunni view is that Muslim law only applies in countries under Muslim government. What happens outside is no concern of the Muslim authorities. One distinguished jurist makes his point with an extreme example: A Muslim traveling in the lands of the unbelievers commits robbery and murder. He returns to the lands of Islam with his loot. No action can be taken against him or against his loot because the offense was committed outside the jurisdiction of Islam, and it is therefore up to the juridical and legal authorities of the infidels to take action, if they can and will.
Here you have two different opinions relating to an offense committed by a Muslim. That is not the case for the Danish cartoons. This is an offense committed by a non-Muslim. And here the plot thickens. This is discussed by all of the juridical authorities only in the case of a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state. If a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state says or does something offensive to the Prophet, he is to be tried — accused, tried, and if necessary, punished. The jurists on the whole tend to take a rather mild view of this offense. They say, well, he is not a Muslim; he doesn't accept Mohammed as the Prophet; we know that.
So saying that Mohammed is no prophet does not constitute this offense. It has to be more specifically insulting than that. And, as I say, there is an elaborate juridical literature and case law on this subject.What is never discussed at all — it is never considered — is an offense committed by a non-Muslim in a non-Muslim country. That, according to the unanimous opinion of all of the doctors of the holy law is no concern of Islamic law, which brings us back to the case of Denmark.
Does this mean that Denmark, along with the rest of Europe is now considered part of the Islamic lands, and that the Danes, like the rest, are therefore dhimmis, non-Muslim subjects of the Muslim state?
It would seem the Jihadis think so.
- Codifying Blasphemy?
(A follow-on to this post by Pastorius) The UK appears to be considering jumping onto the slippery slope. Is the United States, despite our history of separation of church and state, far behind? Codifying religious blasphemy as part of the civil code...
- Has Called For A Boycott Of Norway And Denmark
The Muslim brotherhood has called for a boycott of Norway and Denmark over the recent viewing of the Mohammad cartoons. The boycott is a result of Norwegian TV station, TV2, showing the cartoons during a documentary on Tuesday, and Danish youth politicians...
- An Indictment Against Islam
Reading our recent article about the laughably, unintentionally-ironically named “Islamic Human Rights Commission” and their legal jihad in the UK got me thinking. (Editor’s note-- Islam gives individuals only one ‘human right’, and that is...
- Danes Just Makes Fun Of Muslims!
The Danish Attorney General, Henning Fode, has rejected the reporting of Jyllands-Posten being discriminating in the Mohammed cartoon case. The best part was the female spokesman of a Palestinian group in Denmark's response. I recall it as "We were...
- Cartoon Wars--origins, Beliefs, And Escalation
Let's look at how Islam views these depictions: "The spreading Muslim protests against newspapers that reprinted cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad stem from the deepest religious roots. "Islam forbids visual depictions of the prophet, and regards...
Green Energy
Do The Jihadis Consider Denmark Islamic Territory?
Bernard Lewis gave a talk the other day on the troubles the Western world is having with Islam. Here, he proposes a very good question with regards to the anger in the Muslim world over the Jyllands-Posten cartoons:
What was much more at issue was another ban, and that is on insulting the Prophet, which is, of course, an offense. This raises a number of interesting questions that I think are of direct relevance to the whole issue at the present time.
Insulting the Prophet is an offense in Muslim law. This raises two issues: one of substantive law, the other of jurisdiction. Muslim jurists discuss this at some length, and there is a considerable body of case law concerning it in Muslim states.
The first point of disagreement: What is the range of jurisdiction of Muslim law? And here you have two opinions. According to the Shi'a and a minority among the Sunnis, Muslim law applies to Muslims wherever they may be in the world. A Muslim who commits an offense against Muslim law, wherever he may be in the world, is subject to Muslim law and must therefore be punished in accordance with Muslim law.
The majority Sunni view is that Muslim law only applies in countries under Muslim government. What happens outside is no concern of the Muslim authorities. One distinguished jurist makes his point with an extreme example: A Muslim traveling in the lands of the unbelievers commits robbery and murder. He returns to the lands of Islam with his loot. No action can be taken against him or against his loot because the offense was committed outside the jurisdiction of Islam, and it is therefore up to the juridical and legal authorities of the infidels to take action, if they can and will.
Here you have two different opinions relating to an offense committed by a Muslim. That is not the case for the Danish cartoons. This is an offense committed by a non-Muslim. And here the plot thickens. This is discussed by all of the juridical authorities only in the case of a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state. If a non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state says or does something offensive to the Prophet, he is to be tried — accused, tried, and if necessary, punished. The jurists on the whole tend to take a rather mild view of this offense. They say, well, he is not a Muslim; he doesn't accept Mohammed as the Prophet; we know that.
So saying that Mohammed is no prophet does not constitute this offense. It has to be more specifically insulting than that. And, as I say, there is an elaborate juridical literature and case law on this subject.What is never discussed at all — it is never considered — is an offense committed by a non-Muslim in a non-Muslim country. That, according to the unanimous opinion of all of the doctors of the holy law is no concern of Islamic law, which brings us back to the case of Denmark.
Does this mean that Denmark, along with the rest of Europe is now considered part of the Islamic lands, and that the Danes, like the rest, are therefore dhimmis, non-Muslim subjects of the Muslim state?
It would seem the Jihadis think so.
- Codifying Blasphemy?
(A follow-on to this post by Pastorius) The UK appears to be considering jumping onto the slippery slope. Is the United States, despite our history of separation of church and state, far behind? Codifying religious blasphemy as part of the civil code...
- Has Called For A Boycott Of Norway And Denmark
The Muslim brotherhood has called for a boycott of Norway and Denmark over the recent viewing of the Mohammad cartoons. The boycott is a result of Norwegian TV station, TV2, showing the cartoons during a documentary on Tuesday, and Danish youth politicians...
- An Indictment Against Islam
Reading our recent article about the laughably, unintentionally-ironically named “Islamic Human Rights Commission” and their legal jihad in the UK got me thinking. (Editor’s note-- Islam gives individuals only one ‘human right’, and that is...
- Danes Just Makes Fun Of Muslims!
The Danish Attorney General, Henning Fode, has rejected the reporting of Jyllands-Posten being discriminating in the Mohammed cartoon case. The best part was the female spokesman of a Palestinian group in Denmark's response. I recall it as "We were...
- Cartoon Wars--origins, Beliefs, And Escalation
Let's look at how Islam views these depictions: "The spreading Muslim protests against newspapers that reprinted cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad stem from the deepest religious roots. "Islam forbids visual depictions of the prophet, and regards...