“StopUSAGiveaway”, this was your last comment. You are officially banned.

Sharia Law keeps evil people away…isnt that what we want …to be away from evil of all kinds…sharia law is way to success not just punishments that only makes small % of sharia law..if we follow our lives as we are told from God then we wont even have to worry about punishments…because hopefully people wont commit those evil acts …but sadly world is not like that. Plus saudia arabia is one of the top countries with least crimes because it follows sharia law….though i dunt get why woman cant drive?:S

I strongly suggest our Brother’s Yasir Qadhi and Amir Butler to read the following book.

Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family
http://www.amazon.com/Taken-into-Custody-Fatherhood-Marriage/dp/1581825943

I think the simplest reason Jews are seen differently from muslims is the established nature of their communities – fairly, there has been a longer adjustment period, since the open Jew-hatred of a century ago to the rapproachment of the modern day.

Also, whether fairly or unfairly (depends on the case) muslims have been seen as much harsher and ‘backward’ in their treatment of women. for instance, sister Safiyyah Ally of Toronto wrote about the proposed arbitration courts in Ontario in 2005 as below:

http://www.safiyyah.ca/wordpress/?p=163

Normative vs. Empirical Analyses of the Shariah

While most Muslims would deny that the concept of shariah is intrinsically unjust, the application of shariah has been troublesome. The punishment meted out for various crimes has been unjustifiably harsh and biased against women. Patriarchal interpretations of the law in terms of family law, divorce, alimony and inheritance in various parts of the world have raised the ire of feminists and those concerned about the rights of the vulnerable. In fact, there are few regions of the world where Muslims would agree that the shariah is properly established and applied.

The concerns raised by advocates of women’s rights and of secularism are legitimate, but it is important to note that the interpretive element is being challenged by modern hermeneutics. The Muslim community is not an unchanging, static body. Shariah in the Canadian context is very different from the shariah that is practiced in Afghanistan or Iran.

It would probably help matters if proponents of muslim commissions in the West were born in the country they were speaking to, spoke fluent english (or the local dialect), and demonstrated respect for the laws of the land and human rights codes, while distinguishing where Shar’iah differed on these matters, and indicating clearly that no decisions would be enforced that were contrary to the laws of the country or that were not freely and uncoercively entered into by both parties, ensuring that muslim (especially immigrant) women, seen as weak and needing defending by the Western critics of Islam, are given free say – and that rukhsas and differences of opinion from other schools of Islamic law (the four Sunni madhahib, or the Jafari code of Shi’a law) were respected and not ignored in favour of culturally-biased opinions…

From my understanding, Shariah-based arbitration currently exists in America.

Dr. Mohammad Adam El-Sheikh, a member of the Fiqh Council of North America, once mentioned that his arbitration in divorce cases is legally binding (in a court of law) as long as both parties consent to it.

Not sure what all the hoopla is about…

UK is the only western country I know of that has officially altered its national laws to allow Islamic banking to be put into actual practice by both Islamic and non-Islamic banks. You would think then, that those same elected figures and politicians who – after plenty of due diligence – altered their own laws to allow a sub-set of Sharia Law to come into existence in their own country … would behave more maturely in this matter at hand.

But … as Upton Sinclair once said:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

What you said about the establishment clause is correct, but I was just mentioning to put it out there.

What you mentioned about perceptions on “Shariah” is correct, and sadly many Muslims as well think of this as the only manifestation of “Shariah”. Usually the exhibited rage is only a result of the propaganda that they themselves have been ingrained with in their perspective “movements”.