calls on Muslims to engage in “litigation jihad” as a means of moving the U.S. towards Sharia law. --- U.S. courts already recognize and enforce Shariah law in everything from commercial contracts to divorce settlements, wills and estates.
Marc Stern, a religion law expert at the American Jewish Committee, says that's no different from how religious laws and customs are already applied. "And just as the Catholic Church didn't take over law when large numbers of Catholics [came] to the U.S., and Jewish law doesn't govern Jewish citizens, Shariah law is not going to govern, except voluntarily, the rights and responsibilities of Muslim citizens of the United States," Stern says. He says when there's a conflict, U.S. law always wins. For example, when Orthodox Jews have asked judges to enforce their laws on divorce, the courts have refused to do it; they won't be involved in interpreting religion. In the same way, the government won't enforce Kosher food standards because it would violate the separation of church and state. Stern says courts will honor agreements made under religious law, but not if they're grossly unfair. In Maryland, for example, a Muslim husband tried to give his wife almost nothing when they divorced, citing Islamic law. "And in very sharp terms, the Maryland court said, 'This violates our fundamental sense of fairness and our fundamental commitment to equality of women, and we're not going to let you void that by reference to Islamic law,'" Stern says. This is particularly true with criminal acts. Stern notes that in the marital rape case in New Jersey, the appeals court called the lower court's decision deeply flawed, proving the point that courts won't allow Shariah law to trump state law. "This is an opinion that said, 'What was this judge thinking? This is absolutely and fundamentally wrong. Go back and get it right; this woman is entitled to the full protection of American law, no matter what Islamic law is,'" Stern says. But Ali Khan, a law professor at Washburn University, sees a scenario where non-Muslims could be governed by Islamic law. "Right now Islam is expanding in the United States," he says. "Now suppose that Muslims become a majority in a particular state; I think then the state laws would reflect Islamic law." Khan notes that the heavily Muslim city of Dearborn, Mich., passed an ordinance that allows the call to prayer to be broadcast over loudspeakers. Khan believes that the rapid growth of American Islam means that more towns will enact laws friendly to the religion — such as banning alcohol or gambling. Of course, Christians have already done that in some cases by creating dry counties or passing blue laws that prohibit shopping on Sunday. But religious accommodation can go only so far, says Clark Lombardi, a Shariah law expert at the University of Washington. Even if an entire state converted to a "Taliban-esque version of Islam," he says, the courts would not allow it to force women to wear veils, for example — that would violate their First Amendment rights. "So we're not going to see hand chopping off, we're not going to see retaliatory violence, we're not going to see underage marriages, we're not going to see polygamous marriage," Lombardi says. "The U.S. court wouldn't do it. It's contrary to public policy, and they would refuse to apply that particular foreign law." On Apr 26, 12:23 pm, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > ** > creeping posted: "via Muslim Group Calls for 'Litigation Jihad' By Ryan > Mauro The website of the Sankore Institute of Islamic-African Studies > International (SIIASI), based in Pittsburgh, P.A., calls on Muslims to > engage in “litigation jihad” as a means of moving the U" Respond to this > post by replying above this line > New post on *Creeping Sharia* > <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/> Penn: Muslim Group > Calls for ‘Litigation Jihad’ to Spread Sharia in > US<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/penn-muslim-group-call...> > by > creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/> > > via Muslim Group Calls for 'Litigation Jihad' By Ryan Mauro The website of > the Sankore Institute of Islamic-African Studies International (SIIASI), > based in Pittsburgh, P.A., calls on Muslims to engage in “litigation jihad” > as a means of moving the U.S. towards Sharia law. The anti-American group > had its offices raided by the FBI in 2006. [...] > > Read more of this > post<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/penn-muslim-group-call...> > *creeping <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/author/creeping/>* | April > 26, 2013 at 11:25 AM | Tags: Creeping > Sharia<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=creeping-sharia>, > islam <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=islam>, > Jihad<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=jihad>, > law <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=law>, > Legal<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=legal>, > Life <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=life>, litigation > jihad<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=litigation-jihad>, > Media <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=media>, > Muslim<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=muslim>, > News <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=news>, > Obama<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=obama>, > Politics <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=politics>, > Random<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=random>, > Religion <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=religion>, > Sharia<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?tag=sharia>| Categories: > Alerts <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=10378>, Creeping > Sharia<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=4115925>, > Immigration <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=4363>, > Legal<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=2283>, > Media <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=292>, > News<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=103>, > Pennsylvania <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=11113>, > Politics<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=398>, > Religion <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=116>, > Sharia<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=29069>, > Stealth Jihad <http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/?cat=10735225> | > URL:http://wp.me/pbU4v-etc > > > Comment<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/penn-muslim-group-call...> > See all > comments<http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/penn-muslim-group-call...> > > Unsubscribe or change your email settings at Manage > Subscriptions<https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=80d8873ee52adffe4e178d01c25562cf...>. > > *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your > browser:http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/penn-muslim-group-call... > Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com> -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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