Laws are incapable of building a safe foundation for society, if the worldview from which they originate has a flawed approach to the nature of God and man. Christianity views law as a result of God’s Character, meant to save Man from his own fallen desires. This way of thinking about law best balances human rights, along with human boundaries, to create a peaceful society. Atheistic worldviews, such as Secular Humanism, believe God does not exist; therefore, there is no ultimate moral standard from which laws come into being. The freedom that secular law gives to Man enables him to evolve along with morality, allowing him to make laws that satisfy his evil cravings. Such an imbalance of freedom and boundaries portends societal chaos, not peace.
One example of theistic law that fails to create a stable society is known as Shari’ah Law, the form of law espoused by Islam. Shari’ah law is made up of different law schools and law sources—such as the Qur’an, Hadith, Ijma’, and Qiyas. It has five categories of behavior: Commanded behavior (the Five Pillars and participating in jihad), Recommended behavior (charitable acts “above and beyond the call of duty”), Forbidden behavior (such as thievery, sexual immorality, and drinking wine), Disapproved behavior (essentially, the opposite of Recommended behavior—i.e. divorce), and Indifferent behavior (acts that have neither positive nor negative consequences). These five different kinds of behavior have one ultimate motivation in mind—to gain favor in the afterlife. Shari’ah law, then, obliges individuals to work for their salvation and spiritual well-being. Incidents such as the one mentioned in “Just Another Case of Sharia in America” are excellent examples of the result of the destructive effects of Shari’ah Law and its five components. Muslims such as Talaag Elbayomy, because of Shari’ah Law (and the terrifying consequences to defying it), must resort to societal unrest and assault to gain spiritual favor. The introduction of chaos that Shari’ah law subjugates its countries to is an excellent reason as to why it would not improve America, which is built on principles of freedom and peace.
The struggle to maintain control over one’s sinful tendencies (i.e. jihad), and therefore keep the law, also becomes even harder. Since Shari’ah law springs from Allah’s unknowable character (unlike the Christian God, whose moral character forms law), Muslims are forced to rely on their allegedly innate goodness to stay “legal.” In many Muslim/Shari’ah-dominated countries, this Muslim belief in Man’s ability to become perfected has led to a lack of division of powers (Noebel, 295). Ruthven puts it best:
“[B]ecause the Islamist model is predicated on the belief in government by morally impeccable individuals who can be counted on to resist temptation, it does not generate institutions capable of functioning autonomously by means of structural checks and balances. Political institutions function only as a result of the virtue of those who run them, but virtue can become widespread only if society is already Islamic.” (Noebel, 295)
These governmental ideas have led to dictatorships or monarchies in Muslim countries. Such totalitarian systems of government can only make laws that harmfully repress citizens. These ideas clash strongly against, and threaten to ultimately destroy, America’s sense of democracy and freedom of personal expression. Ultimately, if Muslims hope to bring Shari’ah law into America, the name “America” will lose any significance—if overtaken by Shari’ah law, the United States will lose the distinction of human rights that it was founded on to begin with. Only Christianity-based democracy or Shari’ah-based dictatorship can prevail—they cannot coexist.
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