Top cleric: Constitution must respect Shariah

[ECH1969]

Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, yesterday said the country's new constitution must not contradict Islamic Shariah law, causing concern among Iraqi women that their hard-won freedoms will be eroded.

With only nine days to go before the constitution must be presented to parliament, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari had lengthy discussions with the influential cleric, who weighed in on the most contentious issues.

Mr. al-Jaafari told reporters the religious leader, who exerts enormous influence over the majority Shi'ite population, had said the constitution must "reflect the different components of the Iraqi people, and it should express with sincerity and truth their sectarian, ethnic and political makeup."

Ayatollah al-Sistani, however, also stated that the document should contain "nothing that conflicts with Islamic Shariah law," the prime minister said.

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20050805-112240-9721r.htm

[Erika]

1. The Iraqi women will have been put back decades

if Sharia is law. Saddam ran a secular government.

NRO wrote about this a year ago and I contacted my DC GOP reps and they assured me that in no way would Sharia be applied to rob women of their rights. They said the U.S. would not allow this degradation of Iraqi women. I guess, we'll see.

[xxqqqzme]

2. with women's rights

under assault here, why would it even cross their minds 2 push 4 it there? Look what's happened in Afghanistan. Girls R being denied an education already. Total disasters in both countries from every perspective.

Women here R in a worse position than we were 5 years ago.

[Erika]

3. Yes, our rights are under attack

Bush is sending out many messages, like replacing O'Conner with a man.

[leftofthedial]

4. what is up with all the fundy bullshit among all the sons of abraham?

man, sometimes I think the rest of the earth should vote to have the middle east and the religions spawned there kicked out of the Earth Club.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Godcrap will be the funeral pyre of humanity

Whether civilization could have gotten to here without religion, it's pretty obvious that religion will destroy us all.

Adventurous assholes thought they could go into a very complex society and smash their way to a simple solution of their vague design. Great. The world needs another theocracy.

[grahamhgreen]

6. The say we are bringing freedom to Iraq, Sharia law is not freedom.

This is where their current justification for war falls.

Now I'm starting to hear that the next justification for war will be that we have to "stabilize" Iraq. Unfortunately we are the cause of, not the cure for, the unstable situation in Iraq.

[Moderator]

7. Duplicate

This is a duplicate topic of your own post.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1677980