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May 31, 2006
Bernard Lewis On Islamic Law And The Danish Cartoons
Bernard Lewis gave an illuminating talk in which he turns his scholar's eye upon the Danish Muslim cartoon controversy. (Hat tip to Dr. Sanity). Lewis painstakingly describes the stipulations of Islamic sharia law regarding those who insult Mohammed, and comes to a rather surprising conclusion:
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? I think this is an interesting question, which can lead to several possible lines of inquiry.
It is good to have knowledge of one's enemies. I think Dr. Lewis's talk is well worth your time.
And don't miss Dr. Sanity's reference to Stephen Hick's book Explaining Postmodernism, which I also mentioned here.
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