Word: shari
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...cutting of all telephone and telex lines to the outside world until he could establish whether the gunmen were connected with any outside group. Then, as required by Islamic law, his government sought the permission of the 'ulama, the religious leadership, to make a counterattack. Reason: the Shari'a (Islamic canon law) prohibits the shedding of blood in holy places, but the rule can be suspended if the clergymen agree that there is sufficient justification. After several hours of deliberation, the 'ulama gave the King unprecedented powers to stage a battle within the Sacred Mosque...
Islamic scholars are virtually unanimous in condemning the seizure of the hostages as contrary to the Shari'a (Islamic canon law). Says Badawi: "There is no basis in Islam for this. Islam does not justify the taking of hostages, and it also clearly states that one person cannot be punished for the crimes of another." Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, a devout Muslim, has denounced Khomeini as a "lunatic" and forthrightiy condemned the seizure of the hostages. "This is not Islam," he said. "Islam teaches love, tolerance and mercy." One of the ranking experts on Islamic law, at Cairo...
...Thomas Ricks, an Iranian expert at Georgetown University: "Nothing in Islam could justify the slaughter of the hostages, and it is unthinkable that the captors would do so, unless they were threatened by an outside attack." Professor Hamid Algar of the University of California at Berkeley notes that the Shari'a permits both the exchange of hostages and their unilateral release by captors. He also observes, however, that "one tradition is that hostages may be kept permanently...
Defendants in the revolutionary courts are tried under the Shari'a, the Islamic law based primarily on the Koran, rather than under Iran's penal code. Trials are conducted by a five-man panel of judges. Verdicts in the trials, some of which have lasted less than an hour, are reached by a majority vote of the judges; the sentence is handed down by the senior judge, whose appointment is approved by Khomeini, and carried out immediately. There are no appeals. The new regulations allow for defense attorneys, though none were seen at last week's trials...
...About 90% of all Muslims are Sunnis (from sunna, "the tradition of the Prophet"), who consider themselves Islam's orthodoxy. In Iran and Iraq, the majority of Muslims are Shi'ites ("partisans" of 'Ali), who differ from the Sunnis in some of their interpretations of the Shari'a and in their understanding of Muhammad's succession. The Prophet left no generally recognized instructions on how the leadership of Islam would be settled after his death. The Sunnis believe that its leader should be nominated by representatives of the community and confirmed by a general oath...