Author: AlbanFejza

Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.

If a thief steals a thousand dollars from you, and they put him in prison, what do you get? If the thief has a wife and children, what is their crime? Why should they be deprived of their father?

The Quran solves this problem, as well as the problems associated with the criminal justice systems prevalent in today’s world.

Equivalence is the Law [2:178-179]

According to the Quranic criminal justice, the thief who is convicted of stealing a thousand dollars from you must work for you until you are fully paid for the thousand dollars you lost, plus any other damage and inconvenience the theft may have caused you. At the same time, the thief’s innocent wife and children are not deprived of their man, and the expensive prison system is eliminated. Imprisonment is a cruel and inhumane punishment that has proven useless to all concerned.

Contrary to common belief, the thief’s hand shall not be cut off. Thank God for His mercy and His mathematical miracle in the Quran, we know now that the thief’s hand today is to be marked. Marking the hand of the thief is stated in 5:38. The sura and verse numbers add up to 5 + 38 = 43. The other place in the Quran where “the hand is cut” is found in 12:31. This is where we see the women who admired Joseph so much, they “cut” their hands. Obviously, they did not sever their hands; no one can do that. The sura and verse numbers add up to 12 + 31 = 43, the same total as in 5:38. This gives mathematical confirmation that the Quranic law calls for marking the hand of the thief, not severing it. Additional mathematical confirmation is provided: 19 verses after 12:31, we see the “cutting of the hand” again. Punishment in Islam (Submission) is based on equivalence and social pressure (2:178, 5:38, 24:2).

The blasphemy called “Hadith & Sunna” has instituted stoning to death as the punishment for married adulterers. This is not God’s law. As stated in 24:2, the punishment for adultery is whipping in public; a hundred symbolic lashes. As pointed out above, the basic punishment is social pressure and scandalizing the criminal. Whipping in public achieves this goal.

In dealing with murder, the Quran definitely discourages capital punishment (2:179). “The free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female” (2:178). Due to human meanness and injustice, many people cannot even imagine what this Quranic law says. They refuse to accept the clear injunctions that strict equivalence must be observed—if a woman kills a man, or a man kills a woman, or a slave kills a free person, or a free person kills a slave, capital punishment cannot be applied. The Quran prefers that the murderer compensate the victim’s family. Killing the murderer does not bring the victim back, nor does the family of the victim benefit from executing the murderer. The compensation, however, must be sufficient to be a deterrent for others. In Islam (Submission), the victim and/or the victim’s family are the judges for all crimes; they decide what the punishment shall be under the supervision of a person who knows the Quran.

Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.

Verses 5:65 and 5:66 say, “If the people of the scripture (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) believe and maintain a righteous life, we will remit their sins and admit them into the blissful Heaven. Had they observed the Torah, the Gospel, and what is revealed herein from their Lord, they would have enjoyed provisions from above them, and from beneath their feet. Some of them are righteous, but most of them are evil doers.”

Then verse 7:96 says, “If only the people of the various communities believed and maintained a righteous life, we would have showered them with blessings from the heaven and the earth.”

God is the One who controls your happiness, or misery. …. God is the One who makes you rich or poor. [53:43, 48]

A nation that upholds God’s laws is guaranteed prominence among the nations of the world, victory, prosperity, and happiness (10:62-64, 16:97, 24:55, 41:30-31). On the other hand, a nation that violates God’s laws incurs a miserable life (20:124). A nation that upholds God’s laws is guaranteed to be a great nation. This is not a mere idealistic dream; since God is in full control (10:61), His guarantees and promises are done. A nation that upholds God’s laws is characterized by:

1. Maximum freedom for the people—freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom to travel, and freedom of economy (2:256, 10:99, 88:21-22).
2. Guaranteed human rights for all the people, regardless of their race, color, creed, social status, financial situation, or political affiliation (5:8, 49:13).
3. Prosperity for all the people. God’s economic system is based on constant circulation of wealth, no usury, and productive investment. Non-productive economy such as gambling, lottery, and high interest loans are not permitted (2:275-7, 59:7).
4. Social justice for all. Because of the obligatory charity (Zakat), no one will go hungry or un-sheltered (2:215, 70:24-25, 107:1-7).
5. A political system that is based on unanimous consensus. Through mutual consultation and freedom of expression, one side of any given issue convinces all participants in the discussion. The end result is a unanimous agreement, not the opinion of a 51% majority rammed down the throat of the 49% minority (42:38).
6. A society that upholds and maintains the highest standards of moral behavior. There will be a strong family, no alcoholism, no illicit drugs, no illegitimate pregnancies, no abortions, and practically no divorce.
7. Maximum regard for people’s lives and properties. Therefore, there will be no crime against the people’s lives or properties.
8. Prevalence of love, courtesy, peace, and mutual respect among the people, and between this nation and other world communities (3:110, 60:8-9).
9. Environmental protection is guaranteed through conservation and prohibition of wasteful practices (30:41).

Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.

There is not a compromise whatsoever regarding illicit drugs and alcoholic beverages; they are called “abominations and the work of Satan” (5:90). In verses 2:219 and 5:90, we see that “intoxicants, gambling, the idols’ altars, and games of chance” are strictly prohibited. The word used for intoxicants is “Khamr” from the root word “Khamara” which means “to cover.” Thus, anything that covers or hinders the mind is prohibited. This includes anything that alters the mind, such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, hashish, and anything else that affects the mind.

Friday Sermon based on Appendix 35 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa (1989).

Praise be to God! There is no other god except God.

Sons and daughters of the true believers must be taught that their happiness throughout their lives depends on following God’s law and preserving their chastity. This means that they must keep themselves for their spouses only, and never allow anyone else to touch them in a sexual manner (23:5-6, 24:30, 33:35, 70:29-30).

Today’s society is replete with powerful temptations. Even parents have started to talk about boyfriends for their daughters and girlfriends for their sons. When they reach their teens, many parents even supply birth control means to their children. An alarming percentage of teenagers are sexually active, even though they are not physiologically mature, and without any moral limitations. Millions of illicit pregnancies and the tragedies associated with them, plus millions of tragic abortions, happen every month in the USA, for example.

Among the results of this moral breakdown: unwanted and unsupported   children, delinquent and irresponsible fathers, criminals who have no regard for people’s lives or properties, millions of social misfits, incurable genital herpes, incurable genital warts, devastating syphilis and gonorrhea, depressions, the killer AIDS, and new diseases never known before.

What most people do not know is that this moral breakdown costs them   dearly throughout their lives. For the only law that rules the world is God’s law, and these flagrant violations of God’s law cost them a lot of misery and problems (20:124).

The true believers who care about their children will advise them and remind    them repeatedly and persistently (20:132) to keep their chastity. This means staying a virgin until their wedding night, then staying loyal to one’s spouse—never committing adultery—for their own happiness. God’s advice to keep our chastity, before and after marriage, is for our own good. God is the one who controls our health, wealth, and happiness or misery (53:43, 48).

Friday Sermon based on Appendix 34 of the Authorized English Translation of the Quran by Rashad Khalifa (1989).