ISLAM

XXXXX Hyder Gulam

XXXXXXX
Registered Nurse Barrister & Solicitor Accredited Mediator FRCNA

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Aims of this Brief
 Enable understanding
of Islam
 Dispel popular
‘Myths’ about
Islam/Muslims
 Roots of Muslim Rage
 Islamic law 101
 Tips for Investigators

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Some Myths about Islam
 All Muslims are Arabs.
 All Arabs are Muslims.
 Muslims dislike Christians/Jews
 All Muslims are potential Terrorists
 A Jihad is a Holy War against the West
 Muslims oppress women - Muslim leaders.

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Major Principals
 Treat people with compassion, mercy and
sincerity.
 Social duties in Islam.
 “There is no compulsion in religion..” Holy
Qur’an (2:256)

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Muslims in Australia
 Approx 20% of World’s Peoples are
Muslims.
 Approx +2% of Australians are Muslims.
 33% of Australian Muslims are born in
Australia.
 The Ghan and 1650 AD Muslim fishermen
 3.9% Australians with Higher Degrees are
Muslims (cp 2.7% other - 1996 Census)
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Some Islamic Words
 Allah - The Arab Word for God - Used by
Muslims as the Name of God.
 Islam - The Muslim Religion.
 Muslim - An adherent of Islam. One who
submits to the will of Allah.
 Mosque - Muslim place of Worship.
 Hajj - Pilgrimage to Mecca.
 Zakaat - Annual excise 2.5% to poor.

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The Five Pillars
 Belief in One God (the Shahada).
 Prayers (Salaat) - 5 Obligatory Prayers.
 Fasting - Ramadan.
 Zakaat - Compulsory annual excise of 2.5%
to the poor and needy.
 Hajj - The Pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Articles of Islamic Faith
 There exists one God, the creator and
sustainer of the Universe.

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Articles of Islamic Faith
 God in his compassion and mercy has sent
messengers (Prophets) to guide us.
 Adam
 Noah
 Abraham
 Moses
 David
 Jesus
 Especially Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) 10
Articles of Islamic Faith
 God has sent Divine Revelation through
exemplars of humanity - ie the Prophets
 Examples of Holy Books
 Torah
 Psalms
 Bible
 Quran

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Articles of Islamic Faith
 There is a Hereafter
 In the Hereafter we will account for our
actions in the world.
 We will be rewarded accordingly.

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Articles of Islamic Faith
 The existence of Angels
 eg. Gabriel

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Articles of Islamic Faith
 Belief in Divine Providence, Fate (Kismet)
 God is the All Wise, knows all actions
and events -
 Both Good and Bad.

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Appropriate Behaviour
 Even non practisers, believe and respect ISLAM!
 It is important not to make fun of/degrade
 Muslim Belief
 Shrines
 Holy Quran
 Mosques
 Prophets etc

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Appropriate Behaviour
 Muslims are offended by swearing:
 at family and themselves.
 In front of family and relatives.

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Appropriate Behaviour
 Quran is not an ordinary book.
 Do not place it on the floor.
 Do not touch it without permission.

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Appropriate Behaviour
 Muslims do not
display the area
between their naval
and their knees.
 They do not like to
look at others.
 They dislike being
seen in the nude.

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Appropriate Behaviour
 Muslims do not like
being interrupted
while praying.
 They do not like being
given insulting
nicknames.

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Sunni Muslims
 About 90% of Muslims are Sunni
 Guidance from Allah only from Quran and
Hadith
 Imam merely teaches faithful about Quran
and leads through the prayers.
 They hold to the orthodox, traditional Islam
as taught by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

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Shi’ite Muslims
 Leadership of Muslim community should
remain with descendants of Ali.
 Order of Imams finished.
 Mainly found in Iran, Iraq, Yemen,
Lebanon, Afghanistan and India
 Mahdi will conquer evil and reward Shi’ites
 Stress that martyrdom is a means of
reaching God.
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Food
 Muslims do not eat
Pork.
 Muslims do not eat
anything made from
Pork.

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Food
 Muslims will eat chicken, lamb, and beef
only if it has been slaughtered by People of
the Book.
 Some may refrain just in case it wasn’t
slaughtered properly or contaminated by
Pork.

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Food
 Muslims do not eat food and consume
drinks that are made from or contain alcohol
and intoxicants.
 Permitted Food is know has Halal Food.

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Women
 Women are special
 Not for their
shape/looks
 But for their
minds/role
 Many women find this
tenant liberating.

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Women
 Do not look at/stare/eyeball!
 Do not touch a Muslim woman!
 Do not wave at a Muslim woman!
 Do not bump into a Muslim woman in the
street etc!
 Do not do anything with your left hand.

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HOLY DAYS
 Fridays are very
important to
Muslims.
 Month of Ramadan
is Holy.
 Refrain from
eating, drinking,
sex from dawn to
sunset.

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Prayer Times
 Dawn Fajr Early Dawn to Sunrise
 Noon Zuhr Noon to early Afternoon
 Afternoon Asr Mid Afternoon to Sunset
 Evening Maghrib Sunset till light gone.
 Night Isha In hours of Darkness
 Prayer involves the whole body and facing
Mecca.
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The Jihad
 Holy War acceptable on two conditions.
 It is a defensive measure when a country
has already been attacked.
 Must be fought in Allah’s name to extend
Islam and its influence.

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The Jihad
 Today term Jihad is used to apply to:
 An inward struggle against human
passions.
 An outward struggle against injustice.
 Jihad means ‘Striving’.

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Iraqi Sniper:

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The Roots of Muslim Rage:
 Modern Islamist ideology
 Osama bin Laden and the 1998 Fatwa
 The West’s angry Muslims
 The threat within - reverts
 Genesis of suicide terrorism
 Convergence…

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Modern Islamist ideology
 Sayyid Qutb b.1906 d.1966. Leading figure in
Muslim Brotherhood.
 Key figure in providing ideological template of
contemporary militant Islam.
 Believed division b/w church & state created a
‘hideous schizophrenia’ in modern life, causing
alienation and contributing to the rise of
secularism.
 Promotion of Islamic civilization, not Arab.
 Qu’ran was not just a body of belief but a way of
life - based on oneness with God.
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Modern Islamist ideology - cont
 Absolute sovereignty of God - dominates
human existence, including government,
law, education and individual private life.
 West bestowed higher value on materialism
rather than on the dignity of the individual.
 Jihad as a legitimate method of seeking
victory over the ignorant - thus ensuring the
sovereignty of God on earth.

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Modern Islamist ideology - cont
 Wahhabism - Founded by Muhammed
‘Abdel Wahhab (18th Century Arabia)
 Emphasized the singularity of God and
unembellished strict adherence to the
Qu’ran.
 Helped forge the religious legitimacy of the
al-Saud family against the Ottoman’s.
 Read Qu’ranic verses literally and
ahistorically .

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Osama bin Laden and the 1998 Fatwa:

 Usurpation of inalienable Palestinian territory by

Israel - Jerusalem.
 Stationing on foreign troops (read USA) in Saudi
Arabia.
 Cultural hegemony of the West and the propping
of ‘un’-Islamic Governments in Muslim states.
 Occupation of Iraq

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The West’s angry Muslims:
 Spread of radical Islam among the descendants of
immigrants to Western countries.
 In Europe - part of the guest worker program,
which provided cheap labour for Europe’s postwar
economic boom.
 Retained powerful attachments to their native
cultures.
 Formed enclaves - lack on assimilation and
multicultural programs by the State.
 Unemployed youth from ‘tough’ suburbs -
Lakemba, Bradford, Leicester, Marseilles, Lyon
and Paris. 41
The threat within - reverts:
 In Philippines, Muslim reverts used as special
operatives.
 Ability of Western reverts to blend into
communities and cross borders without detection
based on profiling techniques.
 Carry out surveillance on high value targets and
terrorist attacks.
 Hizbullah special unit - Western appearance,
foreign language skills and false identities.
 Western reverts - appear zealous to fulfill their
obligation.
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Genesis of suicide bombers:
 Definition - targeted use of self-destructing humans against
non-combatants to effect political change - amplify
attack’s effects.
 No appreciable psychopathology.
 Generally educated and economically well-off: secular
education.
 Suicide as exceptional martyrdom.
 Collective sense of historical injustice, political
subservience and social humiliation.
 Poverty and lack of education are not reliable factors -
suicide bombers are not lacking in legitimate life
opportunities - however relative loss of economic and
social advantage by educated persons might be a factor
(underemployment).
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Genesis of suicide bombers:
 Underemployment seems to be factor: al-Qaida recruits.
 Mean age - early twenties, males (some females - Beslan).
 Almost all are unmarried and expressed religious belief
before recruitment
 Exhibit no social dysfunctional attributes.
 Deeply religious - with belief in divine sanction.
 No correlation with depression or antisocial behaviour -
strong individual pride and social cohesion.
 Regarded religion as their most important personal value -
secrecy over true knowledge of jihad.
 Massive
 Need to investigate any significant causal relations
between our society’s policies and actions and thise of
terrorist organisations.
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The Roots of Muslim Rage:
 Minority view-not shared by majority of Muslims.
 A life devoted to compliance with Shariah is
considered inherently superior to all other legal
codes, and the followers of any other was are
considered infidels (kuffar).
 The supremacist thinking of Muslim puritans has a
powerful nationalist component, which is strongly
oriented towards cultural and political dominance.
 These groups are not satisfied with living
according to their own dictates, but are actively
dissatisfied with all alternative ways of life.
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Global Salafist Jihad
Convergence:
Islamic Order of Assassins (hasashin)
Al-Qa’ida Iraqi-insurgent groups
Bosnia Ba’th party cadres
GSPC Hamas Abu Sayaf Syria
JI Western China
Taliban
MILF Iran
Chechnya Southern Thailand
Hezbollah Muslim Brotherhood
Jamaat ul-Fuqra LET and other Kashmiri’s 46
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MEAO In Country Specifics:
 Population:
24,683,313 (July 2003 est.)
 Age structure:
0-14 years: 40.7% (male 5,103,669; female 4,946,443)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 7,033,268; female 6,855,644)
65 years and over: 3% (male 348,790; female 395,499)
(2003 est.)
 Median age:
total: 19 years
male: 18.9 years
female: 19.1 years (2002)
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MEAO In Country Specifics:
 Ethnic groups:
Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman,
Assyrian or other 5%
 Religions:
Muslim 97% (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%),
Christian or other 3%
 Languages:
Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions),
Assyrian, Armenian

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Islamic law – an introduction
 Sharia – Arabic term for Islamic law.
 Means path or way to a water hole in the desert.
 History of Islamic law begins with revelation of the Quran.
 Contains legal principles and injunctions dealing with such
subjects as family law, succession, commercial, penal &
international law.
 Fatwa - legal ruling given by a recognised religious
scholar in answer to a question of importance.
 Severity of punishment is a deterrent to crime.
 Imposition of punishment is strictly controlled by the law
of evidence - in doubt the penalty must not be imposed.
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 Islamic Law – sources:
5. LOGIC & REASON –
1. Quran – Analogical Deductions,
Primary source of Public Interest,
Islamic Law Other legal discourses

3. ULAMA –
2.1 SUNNA 4. QIYAS –
Religious Scholars
Tradition of new cases or case law
IJMA –
Prophet Muhammad whish may have already been
Consensus of Opinion
decided by a higher judge

SCHOOLS OF JURISPRUDENCE (Madhabs)

2.2 HADITH
Hanafi, Malikite, Shafi’ite, and Hanabalite
Stories & Anecdotes
5th major school is the Shia school.
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SOURCE – Islamic Law: Myths & Realities 222.muslims-canada.org/Islam_myths.htm
Fatwa (plural: Fatawa)
 An opinion or ruling on a point of law in response to a
specific question.
 NOT a death sentence!
 Result of a process of legal reasoning (ijtihad) based
on the Quran, sunna and the classic law/fiqh
textbooks produced by each Muslim school.
 NOT legally binding: may followed or rejected by
choice.
 Persuasive rather than binding authority: a lawyer’s
opinion.
 ‘Second opinions’ are allowed.
 Can only be issued by a recognised religious scholar:
a mufti or ulama. There are also councils or majelis
of scholars that issue collective fatwa.
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Mazhab: Schools of Islamic law
 The Islamic world is split into two main groups,
Sunni and Shia.
 There are 4 Sunni schools of law (Mazhab,
Maddhab) which recognise, and sometimes use,
each other’s textbooks:
1. Hanbali
2. Hanafi
3. Maliki
4. Shafi’i (the largest, applies in SE Asia)

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 Categories of Islamic law:
Ibadat: includes ritual Jinayat: Islamic penal law.
dealing with practices of Classified into 3 categories:
faith and the pillars of (1) Qisas (retaliation) revenge
Islam (ie prayer, crimes restitution
almsgiving, fasting and (2) Hudud (fixed) Most serious.
Punishable by pre-established
pilgrimage) and laws punishments found in the
dealing with personal Quran – Theft & Apostasy
status (marriage, divorce, from Islam.
custody of children, (3) Ta’azir Least serious (similar
succession and to summary offence) All
inheritance). Also other offences, dealt with
includes commercial under laws – punishment left
to the discretion of the judge
transactions, such as
contracts, property etc
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Hudud crimes
 Specifically mentioned in the Quran -
transgressing God’s limits.
 Purpose is to preserve peace, security and stability
 Theft, highway robbery, drinking alcohol,
unlawful sexual intercourse, false accusation,
defamation/slander and apostasy.
 Prescribed punishment - ie highway robbery:
death, crucifixation, cutting off the hand and foot
on opposite sides, exile.
 Repentance or reparation cannot derogate from the
severity of the sentence. 56
Theft (Al-sariqa)
 Prescribed punishment is cutting off the hand.
 Thief must be an adult;
 Sane;
 Have criminal intent;
 Not under duress, or forced to commit the theft by
hunger or emergency;
 Property must have a prescribed amount in value;
 Property must be owned by someone else;
 Taken from a place where it was kept in custody.
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Qisas - Equality in retaliation
 Intended to limit blood feuds.
 Deterrence - an eye for an eye…(talion)
 Gives a strict right to inflict same hurt on the
wrongdoer as that inflicted on the victim
 Recommended that victim/heirs remit the penalty
and accept compensation (diyat) instead.
 Forgiveness - material and spiritual inducement.
 Table of maims sets out the appropriate
compensation for various types of injuries.
 Includes murder, manslaughter…
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Qisas - cont
 Testimony of 2 witnesses required.
 Allows victim/family to say whether offender
should be executed or receive the same injury
inflicted on the victim.
 Traditional diyat was set at a 100 camels for the
death of a person.
 Relatives are expected to contribute if wrongdoer
has insufficient funds. (Frank/Yvonne Gilford - 1999
Saudi Arabia)

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Ta’azir - Chastisement
 Those crimes not included in the above
categories - or evidence is lacking.
 Eg false witness, corruption, extortion
 Nature and punishment determined by the
state, and awarded at the discretion of a
judge.
 Punishment based on rehabilitation, not
retribution.

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Evidence in Shariah
“I am only a human being, and you bring your
disputes to me, some perhaps being more
eloquent in their plea than others, so that I
give judgment on their behalf according to
what I hear from them. Therefore, whenever
I decide for anyone which by right belongs
to his brother, he must not take anything, for
I am granting him only a portion of Hell.”

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Evidence of Woman/Importance of Oath
 No prohibition against women as witnesses in the Quran or
the Hadith.
 However, verse 282of Sura Al-Baqarah posits that the
evidence of one man is equal to that of two women.
 However this was based on customary notions on
commercial dealings, which were the domain of men.
 The Oath is important in Shariah because of the very fact
that Islamic law is a religious system of law and it
understood that those who come before the court will
mostly be Muslims who believe in God and hold a belief
that they risk sever punishment in the Hereafter is they lie
on oath.

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Evidence - cont
 Confessions can not be coerced.
 Non-retroactivity of criminal law.
 Presumption of innocence/Right to silence.
 Habeas corpus remedy - cannot be
suspended by the Executive.
 Rights of the accused pre-trial and during.
 Right to counsel
 Hearsay not admissible.

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Some Important Tips
 Use your right hand for all interactions
 Serve Halal Food
 Provide empty room for Friday Prayers
 Serve Food at night during Ramadan
 Keep Muslims together so that when they
pray they won’t disturb others/be disturbed
unless security/investigative reasons
 Muslims respect elders - use elders to solve
problems
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 Tips - cont

 Head & Feet

 Pointing and A-OK sign
 Personal appearance/Modesty
 Touching – same sex and opposite sex
 Giving gifts to a Muslim - engraved images
or photos of women, especially suggestive
images of any kind, ie. adult magazines or
trendy art objects.
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 REFERENCES

 Abdur Rahman I. Doi, Shari’ah: The Islamic Law (Kuala

Lumpur, A.S Noordeen, 1989)
 C.G Weeramantry, Islamic Jurisprudence: An International
Perspective (Kuala Lumpur, The Other Press, 2001)
 DCHAP-AF (HQTC-AF), Information Brief on Islamic
Culture (Laverton, RAAF Williams Printing, 2002)
 The Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington DC,
Understanding Islam and the Muslims (Islamic Affairs
Department, Washington DC, 1989)

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 Useful WebLinks:
 Islamic Council of Victoria
http://www.icv.org.au/
 Islam For Today
http://www.islamfortoday.com
 The Duncan Black Macdonald
Centre for the study of Islam
and Christian-Muslim Relations
http://macdonald.hartsem.edu
 The Muslim Converts’
Association of Singapore
http://www.darul-arqam.org.sg

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Doing good and striving for justice:

“O you who believe, stand firmly for justice,

as witnesses for God, even if it means
testifying against yourselves, your parents, or
your kin, and whether it is against the rich or
poor, for God prevails upon all. Follow not
the lusts of your hearts, lest you swerve, and if
distort justice or decline to do justice, verily
God knows what you do”.

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Teamwork clip:

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