Word: shari
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Despite U.S. concerns, there are real differences between Somalia and Afghanistan under the Taliban. While Somalis are Muslim, many are secular in outlook and would fight against the strict imposition of shari'a law. The coalition of groups who forced the warlords out of Mogadishu is also far from homogenous - and may fall apart now that the common enemy is banished. Privately some U.S. State Department officials focused on Somalia have questioned whether there is any link between Mogadishu's Islamic leaders and Al Qaeda...
...pornography law. "This is just another way for certain groups to extort money," says Yahya. "It's not about morality." Others accuse legislators of trying to push through an Islamization program veiled as a campaign against nudity and lewd behavior. "The bill is the beginning of a Shari'a agenda to keep women inside," warns Harymurti, who is Muslim. Adds an even more alarmed Leo Batubara, a member of the Indonesian Press Council: "We could be going the way of the Taliban...
...they plan to complete by June. But pressure from influential Muslim organizations to impose harsh sanctions remains strong. "We have to stop this drift toward moral liberalization," says Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim organization. Leaders such as Syamsuddin deny any intention of imposing Shari'a or that non-Muslims are being targeted. They also reject the claim that rights will be curtailed, saying that the objective of the law is to protect women and children. "The removal of pornography is not an infringement on press freedom," asserts Santi Soekanto from the Anti-Pornography Alliance...
Facing heavy international pressure, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government brokered the release of Abdul Rahman, who, under Afghanistan's Shari'a law, had faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Two days later, Rahman was spirited to Italy, which granted him asylum. On his arrival, he gave a brief TV interview, thanking the Italian government and Pope Benedict XVI for helping save his life and win his release. But alive doesn't mean totally free. Afghan clerics have denounced Italy and continue to call for Rahman's death, so he will stay under tight police protection...
...divide between Islam and the West is growing. Ansarullah Mawlavezada, the judge in charge of Rahman's fate, defends the independence of the Afghan judiciary. "In the West you allow two women to get married because that is the law, and I respect that. In Afghanistan we have Shari'a law, and the people respect and accept this," he told TIME last week. "Shari'a law is very clear." Perhaps, but how it can coexist with Western values...