Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
Even there, though, you have to understand that Islam makes that more difficult than many other religions for two main reasons. First, the text of the Quran is held to have been dictated verbatim by Gabriel to Muhammad, such that the words therein are the literal transcription of the word of God. It's not "the gospel according to", it's His word, period, leaving less room for interpretation. Second, Muhammad himself, who is supposedly a perfect Muslim and God's chosen prophet, was not the sort of guy we'd want to live next to in the 21st century.
|
There's a third reason: The Koran lacks the
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's clause that has enabled Christians to accommodate their religion with secular authority and laws. For conservative Muslims, there's no question that when Sharia and a secular law comes into conflict, Sharia take precedence. And not just in matters of private conscience - in public policy, for all citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim.
And this isn't withering away in the modern world. Support for Sharia law is
growing in Muslim-majority countries. In 2001, in an effort to soothe separatist sentiment, the federal government of Indonesia allowed the Aceh province of Indonesia to adopt Sharia law. Now not only Muslims in the province, but non-Muslims as well, are publicly flogged for dating before marriage, drinking alcohol, or engaging in homosexual behaviour. There's growing appetite among Muslims in the rest of Indonesia to adopt Sharia. Indonesia, once held up as the model of moderate Islam, is becoming less and less secular. The trends are going the wrong way.
As Shariah Experiment Becomes a Model, Indonesia’s Secular Face Slips - New York Times