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There is a perception in the West that Islamic Law is unjust and harsh, especially when we perceive that women are treated with less compassion than men, for the same crime. However, I would argue that Islamic Law is just within its own context. That is, the rules and punishments are spelled out in a book, and generally administered consistently with the book. This is certainly one basis of justice. Some punishments appear harsh to Westerners, but is it worse to lose a hand or to spend 20 years of one's life in a prison? Both are harsh; the Western penalty

appears less violent, but is certainly harsh.

I think part of the confusion comes from the difference between our cultures. Muslim justice is religious justice. For a long time this was also true in Christian Europe. Beginning in the 18th century, however, Europeans and Americans rediscovered Roman principles of law and justice. Modern Western law and justice are no longer religious; they are secular and humanist.

One big difference between Islamic and Western justice is the concept of the rights of the individual. In a theocracy, God's word is law. Each person has only those rights given by God, and individuals live for the sake of the whole society. No one may challenge God's law. In a Western humanist state, such as America, the individual is as important as the society itself. A person has liberty in everything except what is forbidden by the secular laws. These laws are written by elected representatives of the people themselves. God is not involved. If enough people feel a law is unjust or unnecessary, or that a punishment is too harsh, they can work to have it changed.

As Westerners, we have shaped our tradition of law, and modified it to reflect our changing values. We have moved farther away from the type of religious law and physical penalties common during our own theocracy. Thus our concepts of law and justice, crime and punishment, once closer to that of our Muslim brothers, has diverged. It is this cultural evolution and divergence that give us differing concepts of justice and harshness.

Let me close with a few quotes from Marcus Cicero, a Roman leader whose thoughts influenced the English and French Enlightenments, and the Constitution and laws of America as well.

o True law is right reason in agreement with nature.
o The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone
else his due.
o The welfare of the people is the ultimate law.
o Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
o The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong.

Learn more about this author, Rob Drew.
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