COLOMBO : Responding to an article published in a local daily by Archbishop of Colombo Malcom Cardinal Ranjith under the title ‘Easter Attacks Sharia Law played Major Part’., former Lankan ambassador to Kuwait, S. A. C. Mohamed Zuhyle said that the term Shariah is misinterpreted and misunderstood, as carefully designed and propagated by the Western Media. “ In Sri Lanka too it is repeated without proper understandings.
In a statement, Zuhyle said : “ The literal meaning of Sharia Law is path or way forward; it simply means a Legal System, like Roman Dutch Law or English Common Law. For us in Sri Lanka we don’t need to toil so much to understand the subject. We need only to have an independent mind to learn which is often lacking.
We have our own Judge C.G. Weeramantry, undoubtedly one of the most articulated legal personalities in the world. He has written a book under the title ‘Islamic Jurisprudence; An International Perspective’, first published by Macmillan London & St. Martin’s Press, New York in 1988. This book covers every aspects of Sharia Law. It is an essential reading for students of Law, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy and Theology.
Judge Weeramantry says in the first Paragraph of the First Chapter itself of the book that Sharia Law is one of the best legal systems in the world. It reads as follows.
“Although the Islamic system of jurisprudence is one of the best developed and most adequate systems in the world, very little is known about it by Western law students. The average law course does not contain even a slight exposure to the richness of Islamic legal thought and the average law graduate passes out with no knowledge of it whatsoever. This brief outline is intended to convey a glimpse of the magnitude of this body of juristic learning and of the impact it has had on civilisation in general. It can only aim at picking out a thread or two in this vast and colourful tapestry, in the hope that it will help towards an appreciation of its scope and richness and of its importance in the universe of legal knowledge. It will also aim at showing some of the many interrelationships between Islamic and western jurisprudence and philosophy.”
It is not only taught inadequately in the Western universities, but also in our own Universities; Faculties of law, Political Science, Departments of Philosophy and the Ceylon Law College do not cover this subject sufficiently.
In his book, Judge Weeramantry states that how Islamic Law is already built on top of many fundamentals and principles which we presume to be modern. He explains how Islamic Jurisprudence upholds principles of presumption of innocence, independence of judiciary, open justice and equality before the law; how Islamic Law is based on individual and social aspects such as equality, individual freedoms, women’s rights, social obligations, solidarity and privacy. In addition to that, Islamic Law covers commercial matters such as property ownership, labour rights, fairness in contracts and monopoly.
Judge Weeramantry also states that the concepts of substantive due process and procedural due process, recognised in American constitutional and civil liberties law, were well entrenched in Islamic jurisprudence. The law makers there have benefited immensely from the Islamic legal system. We go by the Western schools of thought while not realising the west owes a great deal to the fundamental principles on which they have based their legal and political frameworks. Perhaps our law makers could benefit by these systems if they are opened to them.
We in Sri Lanka should endeavour to be inclusive and get the rich cultures of all four major religions practised and create a healthy dialogue between them and bring about peaceful coexistence by understanding each other’s culture, respecting each other rather than creating suspicion and divisions among people; that is civilised way of dealing. Perhaps Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith could play a lead role in this regard.
I would like to make a comment on the heinous Easter Sunday Attacks. It must be stated without any shred of doubt the entire Muslim community is in the view that those who caused so much pain and destruction to the society should be condemned and punished. There is no place for such atrocious acts in Islam.
Furthermore, we should also not forget the fact that the then political leadership and the security apparatus of the country totally failed to prevent the attack. Therefore, let us not unduly and without basis, put the responsibility to any specific segment of the society. For the sake of peace and security of the country, let us be mindful of the facts and act accordingly. Let us hope sanity prevails.”
