Tennessee bill would make following Shariah a felony

Tennessee is considering making it a felony to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as Shariah, the most severe measure yet put forth by a national movement whose members believe extremist Muslims want Shariah to supersede the Constitution.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, said the proposal exempts the peaceful practice of Islam but seeks to condemn those “who take Shariah law to the other extreme.” He said it would give state and local law enforcement officials “a powerful counterterrorism tool.”

Ketron, who has successfully pushed through bills tightening restrictions on illegal immigrants, said he expects the Shariah measure will become law.

Shariah is a set of core principles that most Muslims recognize as well as a series of rulings from religious scholars. It covers many areas of life and different sects have different versions of the code they follow.

At least 13 states have bills pending that would bar judges from considering Shariah in legal decisions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but none of those proposals is as strict as what Tennessee is weighing.

http://patriotupdate.com/3747/tennessee ... h-a-felony

What's wrong with those hillbillys? They don't want their citizens doing this???

[youtube:2k3nw5ml][/youtube:2k3nw5ml]

A Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition spokesman said: ‘This is an anti-Muslim bill that makes it illegal to be a Muslim in the state of Tennessee.'

The group is among several civil rights and interfaith organisations opposing the bill.

Nadeem Siddiqi, 35, an American Muslim entrepreneur, slated the ‘overly broad’ bill as ‘basically including all Muslims and all their practices as being illegal’.

‘Sharia is how I know how to fast in the month of Ramadan - how I wash before my prayers,’ he said.

‘It also directs me in how much charity I need to give to the poor. It orders me to be honest and fair in my business dealings.’

Senator Ketron, of Murfreesboro, is the bill’s sponsor and said it does not look to inhibit peaceful Islamic practices.

But he said it condemns those ‘who take Sharia law to the other extreme’ and will give law enforcement officials ‘a powerful counter-terrorism tool’.

Senator Ketron, who has also pushed through bills tightening illegal immigrant restrictions, expects his measure to become law.

However First Amendment Center scholar Charles Haynes described it as a ‘really distorted understanding of Sharia law’

‘It's unconstitutional to even suggest that such legislation should be passed,’ he said.

‘Trying to separate out different parts of Islamic law for condemnation is nonsensical.

'Sharia law, like all religious law, is interpreted in a great many different ways.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1FVA8mldo

Well, Trouble - your link points to a Hindi bride - who was beaten for not providing adequate dowery (an issue that seems to arise with some frequency in India).

The doctor who saved her appears to be from Pakistan (most likely a Muslim - i.e. - someone who follows Shariah law)

I'm not sure what your link has to do with a ban on Shariah law.

The doctor who saved her appears to be from Pakistan (most likely a Muslim - i.e. - someone who follows Shariah law)

Can you source that? :jk2:

My bad...he's bad...it's all bad!

From wikipedia (paraphrased):

Dowery deaths occur around 8,000 times a year in India (proportionally small but still not uncommon given India has a billion people).

It occurs when a family is offended by an inadequate dowery from the bride.

The threat of bride beating might be used to extort more funds from the bride's family.

It's a vulgar practice. So vulgar - that India banned dowery back in the 1960s (the practice, while banned, still exists in pockets of South-Asian culture).

In short - the practice doesn't have anything to do with Islam.

The fact that you'd attribute it to Islam or Shariah demonstrates that you don't know much about either.

Not legal as long as the religion doesn't find itself in contradiction to the law.

Trouble wrote:

The doctor who saved her appears to be from Pakistan (most likely a Muslim - i.e. - someone who follows Shariah law)

Can you source that? :jk2:

97% of all Pakistanis are Muslim.