Majority of Muslims in South Asian nations want a Sharia law: PEW Study

Data provided by PEW, a US-based research centre suggests that South Asian nations are for the Sharia law. The law, which is the religious law forming part of Islamic tradition, is derived from the Quran – the religious text of the Muslims. India, which has the third largest Muslim population in the world, however, was not taken into consideration during the survey.

In Pakistan, in addition to the support to the Sharia law, there is also the Blasphemy Law, which has seen the assassination of several prominent leaders even before their trial is over. The law provides penalties ranging from fines to death by hanging. In 2011, Salmaan Taseer, the Punjab governor was murdered by his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, for supporting a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was charged with allegedly desecrating Islam's holy book, the Quran. Qadri was convicted and sentenced in late 2011, and hanged in February 2016. But he is viewed as a hero by many people who thought Taseer was a blasphemer.

Bangladesh, too, has had a number of liberal bloggers being killed by locals, who have believed that their posts were ‘anti-Islam’. According to a report by the BBC that digs deep into Sharia law, says that ‘even though the death penalty is allowed, forgiveness is preferable. Forgiveness, together with peace, is a predominant Quranic theme.’

India and the Sharia law

Interestingly, there was no data about India regarding that law. However, information suggests that India has had a long-standing debate over the law. Last year, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board claimed that women feel more secure under the law, while a Muslim Women’s Group called Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality demanded a complete ban on sharia courts over the triple talaq issue, which is still being debated in India.  

In 2014, the Supreme Court said that Islamic judges, who interpret religious law, could only rule when individuals submitted voluntarily to them and their decisions, or fatwas, were not legally binding.

The Shariat Application Act that was passed in 1937 with the aim to formulate the Islamic Law Code for Indian Muslims. The act mandates aspects of Muslim social life such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and family relations. The Act lays out that in matters of personal dispute the State shall not interfere.

Most Muslims against ISIS: Survey

The PEW report also said that most Muslims from the countries they surveyed were against the Islamic State (ISIS). The nations questioned in the survey are Muslim-majority nations that aren’t around the Middle East and include Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and Senegal. Of these nations, Lebanon said they were 100 per cent against ISIS, while 64 per cent of people in Pakistan said they did not have an opinion about the organisation.

“In many cases, people in countries with large Muslim populations are as concerned as Western nations about the threat of Islamic extremism, and have become increasingly concerned in recent years. About two-thirds of people in Nigeria (68 per cent) and Lebanon (67 per cent) said in 2016 that they are very concerned about Islamic extremism in their country, both up significantly since 2013.

More generally, Muslims mostly say that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians in the name of Islam are rarely or never justified, including 92 per cent in Indonesia and 91 per cent in Iraq. In the United States, a 2011 survey found that 86 per cent of American Muslims say such tactics are rarely or never justified. An additional 7 per cent say suicide bombings are sometimes justified and 1 per cent says they are often justified.

Warmth towards Muslims by US

During his presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump highlighted the dangers of ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’ – something his National Security Advisor has said is an incorrect term by saying that ‘terrorism is un-Islamic.” Over this period, and even during the time of President Barack Obama,

Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party express somewhat warm feelings toward Muslims, giving them an average rating of 56 on the feeling thermometer, up from 47 in 2014. Republicans and those who lean Republican, meanwhile, rate Muslims at a much cooler 39 degrees, though this is up 6 degrees from 2014.