Mali is exerting a frightening amount of energy into applying shari'a law:
KHQ.COM: Imagine a world where public stonings, amputations, floggings and other inhumane acts serve as punishment for not following religious laws.
This is the terrifying reality that people in Northern Mali are facing right now. The threat is growing every day and women and children are highest at risk.
CNN.com broke the story first and reports that radical Islamists are gathering the names of unmarried mothers and pregnant women who are not married, raising fear in their community that these women will be the next victims to cruel punishment such as public stonings, amputations and executions.
A Senior U.N. official said that two groups with ties to al Queda have taken control of Northern Mali and are vowing to impose strict Islamic law, or sharia.
In July, a man and woman caught in the act of adultery were forced into two holes and stoned to death publicly to set an example to terrified residents watching in silence and fear.
While it comes as no surprise, basic human rights are continually being stripped away from most of the residents in the area and women and children endure the worst of it. In an area where more than half of the population lives off of $1.25 a day, many will do anything for extra cash. Women are often forced into marriages and in an area where wives can be bought for $1,000, their husbands will often resell them. Militants are also buying children for as much as $600 and then enlisting them as child soldiers.
Recently prohibited acts include smoking, drinking, watching sports on TV and listening to music.
CNN.com quoted Islamist commissioner, Aliou Toure, as saying, "We don't have to answer to anyone over the application of sharia. This is the form of Islam practiced for thousands of years."
Western African states and Mali's transitional government are asking the U.N. Security Council to authorize military intervention to get the radical groups out of control and stop the terrorizing. The Security Council says they need more information before they can make a decision.
What do you think?
Since the writer asks, I'll respond. This underscores a distinct difference between Christianity and Islam, and it reveals that shari'a has applied a shameful horror for "thousands of years" [sic].
Consider what Saint Paul wrote to the Romans:
But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8).
With the Christian understanding of sin and redemption, one sees that a gracious God reaches down specifically for sinners, to provide the grace necessary for them to repent of their mistakes. The punishment for unrepented sin is damnation, but God will hold out for the very last moment in hopes that the sinner might be saved.
And how does he repent? Through confession, and acts of reparation. God knows the heart, and is ready to apply the Blood of His Son to those who need it -- which is all of us. In regards to this specific application of punishment, we find:
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”
Repentance brings God's forgiveness. We are all in need of God's mercy. Those who claim that Allah is the "most merciful" do not imitate that truth in their own lives; and if these women are as guilty as they claim, they send them to perdition, not only without an opportunity to amend their lives, but without knowing that such repentance is even possible! That is not merciful.
Comments