Americans are getting together all across America to protest with the ‘march against Sharia.”
Happening Now: Protests and counter-protests underway over Islamic Law. https://t.co/8hCjCY6CM0 #MarchAgainstSharia pic.twitter.com/qt72qpSOpo
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 10, 2017
More from ABC News:
Marches against Islamic law were planned Saturday in more than two dozen cities across the United States, but scholars and others say the protesters are stoking unfounded fears and promoting a distorted and prejudiced view of the religion.
The group organizing the rallies, ACT for America, claims Shariah “is incompatible with Western democracy and the freedoms it affords.”
But most Muslims don’t want to replace U.S. law with Islamic law, known as Shariah, and only “radical extremist groups” would call for that, said Liyakat Takim, a professor of Islamic studies at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.
Shariah, Takim said, refers to guidelines or principles — how Muslims should live. “Fiqh” refers to jurisprudence, or specific laws. The values embedded in Shariah do not change and are shared among Muslims, he said, while fiqh is open to interpretation and change, and in fact differs among Islamic sects and communities.
“In the public domain, Muslims are not required or expected to impose their laws on the country in which they live as the minority,” Takim said, adding there has never been an understanding “that the same laws would be applicable at all times in all places.”
“The Quran allows slavery, so does the Old Testament. That doesn’t mean we allow it today, too,” he said. “Laws are amenable to change.”
The marches come amid a rise in reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S., including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings and bullying of Muslim schoolchildren.
So if there are any shenanigans, we’ll report them right to you!!