30 May 2008
Islamic Extremism an Ugly Reality
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Constitution in Peril; What's News; World Affairs .
To attempt to balance the anti-war mood that we see on the blog, we want to remind ourselves not to let the pendulum swing too far the other way and deny the dangerous reality of jihadism. I was never convinced that Iraq was the way to tackle the situation but whichever side one comes down on that issue, we should not blind ourselves to reality. Islamic Extremism is a threat to democracy and basic human rights and dignity and if we do not guard against its influences, we will find ourselves hearing of a great many more beheadings, some close to home.
Saudi law may lead to Turk’s beheading
The barber was reported to the police for cursing during an argument. Turkey’s president has appealed to the Saudi monarch.
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
3:53 PM PDT, May 29, 2008
JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — It’s a profanity uttered countless times a day around the globe, but a barber in Saudi Arabia faces beheading for the crime of using God’s name in vain. Sabri Bogday, a Turk who cuts hair in this Saudi port city, is awaiting appeal on his sentence.
Press reports say Bogday cursed during an argument with a neighbor, who later complained to police. This nation is ruled by a strict Wahhabi brand of Islamic justice that doles out lashings and public beheadings for crimes including murder, rape and heresy.
Bogday has been in jail for 13 months. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has asked Saudi King Abdullah to spare the barber. But the Arab News daily reported that there could be complications hinging on arcane interpretations of religious law by fundamentalist judges.
The newspaper quoted a lawyer as saying: “Some judges consider it heresy and infidelity, and say that the accused cannot repent and so faces the death penalty. Others consider the statement to be disbelief, thus allow the accused to retract what he has said and repent and then set him free. . . . Sentences in these cases are limited and considered rare, because the judgment is not based on something that is written.”
The strict imposition of Islamic justice in Saudi Arabia has often drawn criticism in the West. It has also highlighted divisions within the royal family between hard-liners and more moderate members led by the king, who occasionally has intervened to reverse court rulings.
Last year, a court sentenced a rape victim to 200 lashes and six months in prison because she had been in a car with a man who was not a relative when the pair were attacked by knife-wielding assailants.
Abdullah pardoned the woman after the case caused international furor, saying she and her companion “had suffered a level of torture and distress that was by itself enough to discipline them.”
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4 Comments so far...
Benjamin Says:
30 May 2008 at 9:45 am.
It is so hard to believe that something like this can go on in a modern world. We talk about human rights abuses in China but what about this?
E.E. Says:
30 May 2008 at 12:10 pm.
And these are our close allies in the Middle East? Spooky!
CindyL. Says:
30 May 2008 at 1:05 pm.
If we had that profanity law here there wouldn’t be hardly any heads on bodies.
Iffer Says:
30 May 2008 at 3:01 pm.
Cindy has a good point. lol.
I am astounded at the level of control. It really makes you think of the freedoms we have. I just hope we will continue to enjoy all the freedoms we have and not lose any more.
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