Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser<\/a>, a politically conservative physician \u2014 he was a\u00a0Marco Rubio supporter, and now leans toward Ted Cruz \u2014 who also served for years as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
At any given time, there are many Muslims serving in our armed forces, among our law enforcement personnel, and in other positions of public trust. \u00a0And, overwhelmingly, they do so as well as their non-Muslim colleagues do.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
For what it\u2019s worth, when I visited the Indiana headquarters of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) just prior to the 2012 presidential election, the imam who had just led the Friday prayer and delivered the weekly sermon confided in me that he was intending\u00a0to vote for Mitt Romney. \u00a0Back when I was in graduate school, one of my fellow grad students was a very devout imam from Pakistan who was an enthusiastic fan of Ronald Reagan.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
3.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some views of Islam are definitely antithetical to the principles on which the United States of America are founded. \u00a0But not all. \u00a0And \u2014 I speak here as someone who regularly teaches courses on the Qur\u2019an (in both English and Arabic) and on the Islamic faith \u2014 I flatly assert that there is nothing in Islam or its sacred text that is necessarily antagonistic to the Constitution of the United States or to the principles of American freedom. \u00a0Everything depends upon interpretation. \u00a0To paint with too broad a brush too broadly is to be deeply\u00a0unjust.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
4.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the statement mentions Islam\u2019s \u201cform of government,\u201d I\u2019m curious to know precisely which \u201cform of government\u201d that is.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Are we talking about a caliphate? \u00a0If so, precisely what is its nature to be? \u00a0(Muslim thinkers have disagreed on this matter for centuries, profoundly and, often, brilliantly.) \u00a0Or should it be a sultanate? \u00a0Or an emirate? \u00a0And what, if any, should be the place of a shura<\/em> consultative council? \u00a0Must the ruler be a lineal descendant of Imam \u2018Ali, as the Shi\u2018a affirm? \u00a0Or is that unimportant, as Sunnis have tended to think? \u00a0And there are various forms of Shi\u2018ism \u2014 for example, Twelver, Zaydi, and Isma\u2018ili. \u00a0Which of them will give us Islam\u2019s \u201cform of government.\u201d \u00a0(They all disagree.) \u00a0And which legal school or interpretation of shari\u2018a<\/em>\u00a0provides the<\/em> \u201cform of government\u201d taught by Islam? \u00a0Would that be the Maliki school of jurisprudence? \u00a0Or, perhaps, the Hanbali? \u00a0Or the Hanafi? \u00a0Or the Shafi\u2018i? \u00a0Or the Ja\u2018fari? \u00a0Or the now-extinct Zahiri?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is<\/em> no single \u201cform of government\u201d mandated by Islam.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When nonsense like that contained in the graphic above comes across your Facebook page, please don\u2019t pass it on unless you have good cause to believe it accurate, just, and fair. \u00a0Most such things that I\u2019ve seen have been none<\/em> of those things.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Salt Lake City, Utah<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 There\u2019s so very, very much that could be said about this thing. \u00a0But I\u2019m short of time, so I\u2019ll just make a couple of basic points: \u00a0 1. \u00a0 Islam is not an organization, any more than Protestantism is an organization. \u00a0 There are various Protestant denominations (e.g., the United Methodist Church, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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