[Groop]re: OT Amina Lawal

[Azamin Zainol Abidin]

jo567779@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu wrote:

> Azamin, thank you for that groop clarification on Islamic law. My personal
> reaction to her planned stoning is that stoning is accepted practice in islamic
> countries all over northern africa and the middle east. I believe stonings are
> very popular under the current strict regime in Iran right now.
>
> Therefore I don't believe any foreigners should voice disapproval of the
> stoning of Amina Lawal, when these same people are silent on the stonings going
> on continuously in other countries. Why is her case more important than the
> stonings in Iran or other countries? If you protest one you should protest them
> all.

Yes, we should not question the law.. but we should look at how the trial was
conducted... is it according to the Islamic guideline..? or was it a fair trial...?
was it according to the rule of law..? How about her right of a lawyer...? I belief
in Syariah court, she should have a lawyer to defend her in the court and get a
fair trial.  These are the area that what we should look into.. and if there is any
abuse .. then we should register our protest.  People unfairly trial deserves a
support.

According to the strict regulation to trial someone under hudud law.. in this
case.. if implicated, the punishment is stoning.. just a very small percentage will
be successfull undr Hudud law.. the big majority of the cases will be trial under
Takzir law which has lesser punishment such as jailing or fined or canning.  For
the past 20 years the Syariah law was implemented in Iran, I've read that less than
100 people had been sentenced under this Hudud law.  The same with Saudi Arabia...
In Saudi Arabia, because of the hudud law, shopkeepers can left  their shop open
without anybody looking after it while they went to the mosque for prayer... and
for the past 10 years, less than 100 people lost their hand for stealing.  Maybe
Craig can clarify this as he is currently in Saudi Arabia...

On the question why there is such a harsh punishment for the offenders, in our
belief, these people who had been punished under Hudud law will never be punish
again in the afterlife, ie they will not be thrown into the hell for the sins they
had been punished.

To know more about Islamic penal code (criminal law), you can click on the link
that I had given in the earlier mail.  Or you can do a search at google
(www.google.com) for "Islamic law" or "Hudud", "Qisas" and "ta'azir".

In my personal opinion, based on the information I read so far,  Amina did not get
a fair trial that she should get according to the Islamic law.
First.. there was no information that why she had commited the offence... maybe she
don't have any money to eat and had to give a "sex service" to get some and in the
same time she didn't get the "zakat" money frorm the government.  Zakat in Islam is
the money that those with money had to give to the government so that the
government can give to the poor. Did she get the money..? if not, then it is the
fault of the government and she should be release... That what I understand if the
her situation had forced her to commit adultery.

two.  Was her confession is voluntarily done... I mean,  did somebody forced her to
confess... after she was raped or forced to have sex with a man..  maybe some
relatives who felt ashame that she was pregnant after the incident.  Was she forced
to have sex with the man...? like afraid of being killed or beated if she didn't
comply the man's need....

This means she should be freed or being trial under the lesser Takzir law... This
way, we protest on how she had been trialed, not protesting the law itself... as it
involve the sensitivity or other religions... so does Muslim cannot critisized or
protest other religions' law... but they can protest on how people are being
trialed...

On the other hand, we didn't read in detail how the trial was done.. whether in a
proper way or biased by politicians.... we have to evaluate this...

Wow.. posting in groop had become more academical...

Azamin