I live in Indonesia, the country with the highest Muslim population in the world – with over 202.9 Million people identifying themselves as Muslim. Indonesia has 34 Provinces, and 5 of them have special status because they have greater legislative privileges and a higher degree of autonomy from the central government than the other provinces. One of those special provinces is called Aceh.
Aceh is basically the place where the spread of Islam in Indonesia began. So the Islamic atmosphere is really strong there, with 98% of Acehnese being Muslim. So, Aceh is considered one of the special provinces, because the Indonesian Government allows them to rule their own province, thus allowing the Aceh Government to use Sharia as the main law of the province.
Sharia is the religious law forming part of the Islamic Tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith.
So why is it inhumane?
Back to Aceh, the Indonesian Government has granted this special constitution for Aceh since 2001, so they could have their own law in which they use Sharia. It is all stated in Indonesia Law no 18/2001 and Indonesia Law no 11/2006.
Ever since Sharia was implemented in Aceh, every year there’s always a case of public caning and flogging because some Aceh citizen broke Aceh’s Qanun (local regulations) which criminalizes: apostasy, blasphemy, consumption and production of liquor (called Khamar in the law), gambling (Maisir), being alone with with someone of the opposite sex who is not a spouse or relative (Khalwat); committing intimacy outside marriage-includes touching, hugging and kissing (Ikhtilath); adultery (Zina), sexual abuse, rape, falsely accusing someone of adultery (Qadzaf); sodomy (Liwath), and lesbian acts (Musahaqah).
With the penalty of those violations being caning, flogging, fines and imprisonment, don’t you think it’s too extreme for them to punish someone just because they ‘falsely accuse someone with adultery’ or ‘being alone with someone of the opposite sex who is not a spouse or relative’?
Aceh is just one of the places where Sharia law is implemented. Other places such as Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the Maldives, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, with the penalty for breaking their laws being way more horrible than the ones in Aceh. Saudi Arabia for example, punishes those who break the laws with blinding, stoning, amputating body parts (mostly hands), and even beheading.
All of those actions based on Sharia Law of course gain lots of international criticism, groups such as Amnesty International said that they are “seriously concerned” about the implementation of the law and called for the repeal of some of its provisions. Beside, all of those actions are violating The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Human Rights Law.
Now ask yourself, do those people really deserve to get those horrible punishments instead of giving them more tolerable punishments such as fines or imprisonment? I don’t think they do. With all due respect to Islam and its followers, I think Sharia Law is really inhumane and not fitting with today’s social situation. On top of those, Sharia is an institution for a dangerous political mission.
Many aspects of the Sharia Law are ridiculous and brutal by any conceivable standards. It violates the core teachings of Islam as well as internationally accepted human rights. Furthermore, it is a nefarious tool for political and religious domination. It is precisely because of such concerns that this Law is so dangerous for our world.
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