Would Europe Have Islamic Courts, or Would We Send European Judges to the Taliban to Learn Sharia?
“I recently read a statement by the head of the Anglican Church [Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams], the upshot of which was that there was nothing wrong with the British legal system adopting some laws from Islamic shari’a and their implementing them for British citizens of the Islamic faith. “There has already been a great clamor [and argument] between supporters and opponents of these statements, so I thought that I, as a Muslim citizen of Europe, would take up this thorny subject and attempt to understand this statement and its implications. [I do this] in order to shed light on what would happen in Europe if its countries were to adopt the kinds of measures that the English archbishop is demanding. “I do not think that this demand that some laws from Islamic shari’a be adopted into European law is [meant] to include shari’a criminal law – that is, punishments such as killing the apostate (a Muslim who converts to another religion), amputating a thief’s hand, cutting off
