Understanding Islam — Page 186
WHAT IS SHARIAH? 184 Admonish, therefore, for thou art but an admonisher; Thou hast no authority to compel them. 4 This makes it clear that according to the Holy Quran the true objective of Muslims is to admonish , or give advice of goodness, and peacefully preach. They are not allowed to use force on anyone. As discussed earlier, a government is not even needed to be in place to “implement” Shariah. Shariah is a part of Islam and sincere and pious Muslims can follow it in any free society. A common question arises in regard to the resolution of disputes. In the A ḥ madiyya Muslim Jam ā ‘at, we have a Qa ḍā Board and those members of the community who, of their own volition, do not wish to take their case through the processes of the common law can bring it to this Board for arbitration and resolution, in light of Islamic teachings. Many in the West fear that there is a “Shariah creep” that is planned, and some Islamophobes tend to assume that Muslims have a hidden agenda to impose Shariah upon them. Our discussion thus far should suffice to remove such misconceptions.