Sharia: Britain’s Missing Piece

If anything has become clear over the last few years, it’s that the West has reached a major crossroads in its history. Its apparent open-mindedness has resulted in a situation where any random person can suggest their solution to the West’s problems. Here is my turn.

If the West is not already aware, they should know that the Muslims intend to stay with the permission of Allah - along with us, our perspectives and values will also remain. So why not make the case for Sharia?

The state of British society can be compared to the state of its people. In 2022, 28% of the UK’s adults were obese - why is this? As I’ve been told by my friends in the field of medicine, today’s doctors and GPs will hand out prescriptions as fervently as Trump hands out his tariffs. In other words, the focus is on curing problems rather than stopping them from even appearing. Is this not a recipe for disaster, and a damning reflection of British society? It is a society which sits and waits for problems to grow out of proportion rather than stopping them at the source.

It is our Sharia, the law of Islam, which has the correct approach - prevention before cure. The British public, although unknowingly, are crying out for Sharia. According to a study from 2005, two-thirds of the British public preferred a policy of prevention when addressing antisocial behaviour. No law anywhere in the world is as effective as the Sharia in preventing societal plagues.

I remember GCSE Religious Studies, debating whether deterrent punishments, like those of the Sharia, were actually effective. Let’s compare the UK to Muslim countries with similar societal features - i.e the influx of immigrants from places like South Asia. Here in the UK, the Pakistani community, at least in some areas, has become known for the lawlessness of the youth, who deal drugs on street corners and destroy their communities. I challenge any of you to visit Qatar or Saudi Arabia and check on the Pakistani diaspora there. Do they act the same way? Clearly not, but why is that? The answer is obvious - the latter would not dare to take part in such filth, as they are ruled by Sharia. It is not Islam which has brought crime in the form of immigration - it is the lack of Islam. So any Briton who thinks that Islam has brought grooming gangs and drugs, why don’t we let Sharia deal with these people? I guarantee the problems would vanish quicker than they appeared.

Let’s look at adultery as an example, specifically the case of a man cheating on his wife - not exactly rare in this society. It is common knowledge by now that the fatherless families which emerge from this situation are a perfect ingredient if you want a society rocked by crime. According to a 2002 study, 70% of young offenders came from single-parent families. So, I will say this next part bluntly and unashamedly: under the Sharia, a man found guilty of cheating on his wife would be put to death (and by the way, chances of false accusations under Sharia are slim, as four sane male witnesses must testify for a guilty verdict). At first, that punishment may seem strange or harsh. But think about it. Is there any sane man who would betray his wife at the expense of his own life? And if he still did, he would no doubt deserve what came next. His death would not only be justified by his crime but also its consequences, those being a group of children turning to delinquency, gangs, and evil. Implement Sharia and watch such problems plummet.

Some people hear the word ‘Sharia’ and the first image in their mind is ISIS or al-Qaeda. A few days before this article, the brother of the 2017 Manchester bomber, Hashem Abedi, was back in the news after attacking three prison officers. Do you think the Sharia would have allowed this? Do you think he would still pose a threat if the Sharia had dealt with him? Forget what he did in prison, what happened in Manchester itself was a blatant violation of Sharia - and the Sharia requires me to have hatred in my heart for what we see in such attacks, against both Muslims and non-Muslims. Just look at how ISIS terrorists are dealt with in Afghanistan, a country ruled by Sharia once again. There is no doubt that the Sharia is a bigger thorn in the side of the extremists than any Western legal system. Such groups have never been able to infiltrate any country ruled by Sharia - how much land have they ever controlled in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf?

In short, Western societies can only be fixed through a system which prioritises prevention over cure, and Sharia is ideal for this. In the West, people are busy debating whether rape levels are caused by men being perverts or by women wearing virtually nothing. As a Muslim, my opinion on this debate is that I do not care what the answer is - my religion deals with both. The Sharia requires the men to act like humans and not hungry dogs, lowering our gazes. It requires the women, as well as the men, to dress properly, not exposing their bodies for all to see. Has this not succeeded in stopping rape levels from skyrocketing as they have in the West? Do not take my choice of language as a hyperbole - according to Rape Crisis in March 2022, over 6 million women had been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16. Not one person reading this article can bring something which is better than the Sharia in stopping this.

So, those of you who want a safer Britain, with less stabbing, less drugs, less rape. Are we not in agreement that the Sharia would annihilate these issues in a way that nothing else can? As long as the Muslims are here, the option is on the table.

Also, I may have mentioned some of the punishments which often bring controversy, but this is another image of the Sharia which simply isn’t accurate. The Sharia is not just beheadings, stonings and amputations. Every single rule found in Islam constitutes the Sharia. When I wake up in the morning to pray Fajr, I am following the Sharia - if any of you are fearful of or against the Sharia, you’ll have to disable my alarm clock if you want to abolish it. Allah is a compassionate and merciful Lord, and this is reflected in the Sharia He has gifted to us. An example of the leniency is when there was famine during the rule of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) - typically, theft is punished by amputation of the hand, but during this time of widespread desperation, the punishment was not implemented by Umar. Perhaps I’m ignorant, but I can’t think of any other legal code which takes people’s situations into account in such a merciful way.

As for the actions that the Muslims should take for any establishment of Sharia, we must remember that the road ahead is a long one. I may seem crazy for even suggesting Sharia in Britain, but I’m not stupid - it’s not happening tomorrow morning. In the meantime, it is up to every single one of us to be ambassadors for the religion. Represent Islam through your character, your manners, your dawah. And be firm in your practice of Islam. Remember the example of Sumayyah (may Allah be pleased with her), our first martyr, someone who unashamedly declared her Islam at a time of torture and persecution. Our Prophet (peace be upon him) gave glad tidings to the Muslims who would be seen as strangers (Sahih Muslim 145), so we should never falter. The best way to advocate for Sharia is to practise it ourselves.

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