Order Robert Spencer’s new book, Holy Hell: Islam’s Abuse of Women and the Infidels Who Enable It: HERE.
When I testified on Feb. 10 before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government about Sharia, the Democrats present were indignant at the idea that anyone would have any problem with Sharia at all. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) at one point airily acknowledged, without prompting, that Sharia was oppressive and that none of those present would want to live under it, but for the most part, he and his fellow leftists acted as if Sharia were entirely benign personal religious law that no one could possibly object to unless he were a racist bigot.
There is an easy way to settle this question. Sharia isn’t a mystery. There are Sharia states all over the world. One of the foremost is the Islamic Republic of Iran. If one wishes to understand fully the implications of the spread of Sharia in Europe and the U.S., it would be wise to study the Islamic Republic. On Tuesday, the dissident news outlet IranWire published a comprehensive report on the rights of various non-Muslim groups in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it would behoove both those who are warning about Sharia in the U.S. and those who are waving away that warning as “hate” to study this report carefully.
The hate, in reality, is coming entirely from the rulers of the Islamic Republic. IranWire explains that “religious minorities in Iran face systematic barriers to equal human rights due to a state structure that is built and maintained to preserve a religious monopoly.” The ruling Twelve Shi’ite clerics, of course, are in control of that monopoly.
Officially recognized religious minorities, which include some sects of Christians, as well as Jews, and Zoroastrians, enjoy, according to the Iranian constitution, “limited freedoms in ‘rites and ceremonies,’ ‘personal affairs,’ and ‘religious education’ ‘within the limits of the law.’” IranWire adds that “some Sunni Muslim schools are also ‘accorded full respect.’” However, these freedoms come with severe restrictions.
In accord with Islamic law’s death penalty for leaving Islam, one notorious restriction is on converting to another faith. “On March 9,” IranWire reports, “Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran (presided over by Judge Iman Afshari), convicted two Tehrani Christian converts on charges of ‘promotional activities contrary to Islamic shariah’ and ‘membership in assemblies opposed to the country.’ Abbas Suri was sentenced to a total of 15 years’ prison, a 15-year ban on social activities, and a 330 million toman fine, in addition to a complementary sentence of prohibition on leaving the country, residing in Tehran or adjacent provinces, and membership in any organization for two years. Forty-three-year-old Mehran Shamlouie was sentenced to a total of 10 years and eight months of prison, a 15-year ban on social activities, and 250 million toman fine.”
These were not isolated instances. In another case, “Christian converts Mehdi Rahimi and Kia Rouhinia were convicted by Branch Three of the Revolutionary Court of Tabriz (Judge Hassan Fathnejad presiding) on May 23, receiving a sentence of ten years’ prison for ‘promoting perverse Christian Zionist beliefs’ and two years’ prison for ‘transporting prohibited goods (i.e. religious texts),’ in addition to a fifteen-year ban on social-legal activities and a fine amounting to one billion tomans plus ten times the value of religious texts they were found to have transported. Rahimi and Rohinia were not presented at their trial and the court failed to obtain defense statements from them.”
Bahais suffer similar repression: “On May 7, three Baha’is–Arshia Rouhani, Hamid Manzavi, and Arash Nabavi–commenced outstanding prison sentences for convictions of ‘propaganda in favor of groups opposed to the state,’ ‘propaganda against the government,’ and ‘membership in groups intending to disrupt national security’ at Dastgerd Prison. Rouhani and Manzavi’s original sentence of five years, and Nabavi’s of ten, were all reduced to two years at appeal.”
As you’d expect, Jews fare no better: “By June 26, following the Israel-Iran war, at least 20 Jews had been arrested in Tehran and Isfahan, while security agents had raided the houses and seized personal belongings of another eight Jews in Isfahan and Shiraz. Two Jewish religious leaders in Tehran and Shiraz were summoned and pressured by security authorities, as were a number of liturgists.”
And “following Israel’s attack on Iran, Iranian security authorities pressured the country’s official Jewish organization to send electronic messages to Jewish citizens which warned that contact with Jews outside the country was forbidden and that they would be held responsible for statements or social media material they circulated regarding the war. Another message requested that Jews participate in a June 25 gathering to show support for Supreme Leader Khamenei held at Tehran’s Abrishami Synagogue; the Jewish representative to parliament was in attendance.” Such requests are understood as being unsafe to refuse.
All this, and there is much more of it in the IranWire report, is Sharia in action. The more Sharia-adherent Muslims come to the U.S., the more Sharia we will see here, and it will manifest itself in the same ways. Muslims in the U.S. don’t have some different, benign version of Sharia. Democrats (and fact-resistant Republicans) should take note. But they won’t.
