While the U.S. courts and lawmakers are still deciding whether or not to completely outlaw Sharia Law, the religious law of Islam, some Muslim leaders are trying to establish the law, and the consequences of breaking it, in their own communities.
One such example of two leaders of a Muslim community who are trying to take the law into their own hands happened recently at a mosque in Philadelphia, PA.
The emir, Merv Mitchell (pictured), who has a long criminal history, along with the imam, who is currently unnamed, decided to deal with a man who was suspected of stealing from their congregation at the Al-Masjid Ur-Razzaq Ul-Karim mosque.
Without trial or a chance at defense, the two leaders decided that the 46-year-old man needed to be punished according to Sharia Law, so they took him out to the back of the church where they intended to chop off his hand.
According to police Lt. John Walker, the imam and Mitchell dragged the frightened man to the back of the mosque, threw him down on the ground, and forcefully held his right arm against a log in preparation for the barbaric punishment. He added that although Mitchell retrieved a two-foot machete from the mosque and used it on the man, he only managed to cut through his skin and some tendons, because the blade was dull.
The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of his wounds, and although he will need reconstructive surgery to fully repair his arm, was released later.
Mitchell is now in police custody after the attack and has been charged with criminal conspiracy, simple assault, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. However, the imam is still at large, but an arrest warrant has been issued against him.
After the incident was exposed online, many comments condemned the use of Sharia Law anywhere in the world, especially in the U.S.
One commenter wrote that Sharia Law is not based on God’s laws; it’s based on religious doctrine, and it could not exist alongside government laws in the same country.
Another wrote that since Sharia Law was not practiced or legalized in the U.S., the amir and the imam should both be sent to prison for attempting to enforce it. He added that the Islamic moral code should forever be outlawed in this country by Constitutional Law and if that made him a bigot, then that was fine.
