This is a shame on the British Goverment. What are ‘British Values’? This country is multi-racial and all of it mixed together makes British Values. The Goverment is amking a serious mistake by doing this. This means that I will be called an Extremist just for holding core Islamic views. Calipahte is only the State ruled By Allah’s law. Shariah is every Muslims’ way of life. Jihad is mentioned in the Quran so many times. And failing to condemn the British and Americans who attack innocent people in my land. Believing that Palestinians cant defend themselves from Israeli TERRORISM and OCCUPATION. What is wrong with this Goverment. This plan will make more so-called terrorists! This country seems to be becoming a country based on BNP views and ideas.

Secondly, this was a very good article – God bless you!

It is so important that we go beyond labels and speak with meaning, as the author has done. And this really brings out the purity of the core of our teachings, which as Muslims, we believe are at the heart of the message that all divinely inspired teachers of the past brought, not least our beloved Jesus (peace be upon him).

Kim, you were interested to hear about the purposes of the shari’ah, which could be translated as ‘the code for a godly life’. In response to your request, I thought I’d spend a few moments offering you my humble take on the subject:

For many centuries Muslim scholars have known that the underlying purpose of the Law was to confer benefit on people. This is not too surprising considering that it is a code sent by Man’s creator (and Woman’s of course!) , to help him and guide him. And if we assume that one of the Creator’s qualities is the ‘Ultimately Good’ (in Arabic ‘Al Birr’) then we know He wouldn’t make laws for us, just to be awkward, but rather for our own good! In this vein Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27)

In the Koran, we are reminded, “It may be that you love something though it is bad for you and that you hate something though it is good for you.” That depth of knowledge about the nature of man, and what is ultimately better or worse for him, is best known by his Creator.

And so of course, anything that benefits people is endorsed by the shariah as well, e.g. a traffic system.

Society is nurtured and nourished by justice, just as it decays and rots when injustice becomes rampant. That is why some scholars argue that in many ways Britain is a better example of God’s law than most Muslim countries (not for one minute suggesting that things are perfect here, of course!)

One famous Islamic jurist from the 12th century (Ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyyah) explained: “When the signs of justice appear and its face is shown in any way, that is where the law of God and His religion are found.”

There is a well known scholar Al Ghazzali from the 13th century who was told by his teacher (Imam Al Juwayni) that there are key purposes behind the Law. He took it upon himself to discover these. After an exhaustive, painstaking study of every ruling in the religion, the scholar finally realised that the ultimate way in which the shari’ah benefits people is by preserving five core public interests:

Life, intellect, faith, family and property.

All the major, well-known rulings of the religion can be traced back to the purpose of serving one of the above five interests.

Finally, I’d like to remind my Muslim brethren of the Koran’s requirement of ‘jadilhum billati hiya ahsan’ – discuss with people in the best manner. Please, don’t insult anyone and before you press SEND, just think for a moment: how will your words affect the hearts of those whom you intend to address?

As Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) reminded us, We are all children of Adam and Adam was created from dust. Our words can be our egos. We do not need to laud our arguements over one another. We are simply asked by our Creator to win people’s hearts that they might be inspired to love Him and live in the pure and simple way that pleases Him, and through this, ultimately achieve inner peace.

Forgive me if I sounded a little harsh or bored anyone!

As a CHRISTIAN I too believe homosexuality to be a sin…Guess that makes me an extremist too then.

Its clear form your childish rhetoric that you are someone who cannot think for yourself, let alone make any decisions. That is probably why you are happy to simply accept anything and everything that your government/army does without questioning.

Without a doubt you would have been a Nazi supporter, if not the General, had you been born in the era of Hitler. For they too showed blind support as you do, and they too considered all those who attacked their army as “enemies”.

I suggest you sport a fake 1 inch long moustache and have a good look at yourself in the mirror- for that’s probably who you would have been if you were born in Germany in those times.

The difference between you and all other sane people is that us sane people allow our morals to guide us on how we view governments/armies decisions, whereas you don’t. You do the opposite. You base your morals on what the government does/says.

Melina, you seem to use a lot of “us and them” rhetoric. Can you please explain who is the “our” when you say “…is OUR enemy”?
Who is “our”?
I am a Briton, am I included in the “our”?
How can the British people be the enemies of Briton for criticising Britain’s army??

Get this through your head— Us Muslims are also British! This is our home. We are not going anywhere. Most of us have been born here. Just because we are not happy with certain issues, and seek positive changes, it doesn’t mean we are now somehow non-British!