Kaleidoscopic Islam.

We thought of working "shuck and jive" into our post title but that's more applicable to the second guy we mention.

The first gentleman just highlights the abject confusion lurking in the sharia and the minds of its interpreters. He's said to be a "moderate" and a "very influential Islamic cleric" and is the head, mind you, of the European Council for Fatwa and Research.

Check out what he has to say on a point of Islamic law.

The Full Monte:

Interviewer: How should a homosexual or a lesbian be punished? We mentioned the story of the people of Sodom and how Allah punished them, but how should someone who commits this abomination be punished today?

Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi: The same punishment as any sexual pervert - the same as the fornicator. [Okay!!!]

* * * *

The schools of thought disagree about the punishment. Some say they should be punished like fornicators, and then we distinguish between married and unmarried men, and between married and unmarried women. Some say both should be punished the same way. Some say we should throw them from a high place, like God did with the people of Sodom. Some say we should burn them, and so on. There is disagreement. [If only Allah could have been clearer on this.]

~~ Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi.^[1]

Imagine what the sharia requires for simply being a smart ass. An offense quite easily morphable into idolatry, heresy, or apostasy, we rather suspect.

Conclusion: Muslim law may be many things but one thing it is not is consistent or predictable.

On the issue of punishment of homosexuals and lesbians (some kind of non-homosexual phenomenon. apparently) every one of the "schools" of Islamic thought has a different take.

This is much like having different concepts of "burglary," "child endangerment," or "forgery," for example. In Missoula, Mont., adultery could be having sex with the nine-year-old wife of another man; but in Plains, Ga., it could be looking at a woman with lust in your heart. Beating your wife could be a felony in Albany, N.Y., but a religious duty in Charleston, S.C.

All veryyy slippery in the conceptual department.

And good luck finding any of these schools' doctrines authoritatively written down anywhere in a central location. What may or may not be an offense under the sharia is something that will be decided ad hoc depending on the politics of the moment, with special emphasis on maintaining the clerical lock on the ummah at all costs.

Forget having the rule of law where the beginning point of any proceeding that invokes the power of the state to sanction or coerce is reference to written consitutional, statutory, or case law that is not changeable at the whim of individual priests.

Jerry Falwell, a current honored resident in the leftists pantheon of demons, doesn't get to change the definition of or punishment for sodomy in the United States because he feels like it.

Or add "blasphemy" to the criminal code, for that matter.

However . . ., if you're just an ordinary Muslim without imamical credentials you can execute someone if YOU think they've been "blaspheming." Killing for alleged blasphemy is also a great way to settle personal scores, as appears to be the case in the link just displayed. In Islam, apparently, every believer carries the turban of an imam in his knapsack.

Rule of thumb no. 1: # of imams in Vienna, Jakarta, the N.Y. state correctional system, and Gitmo Jihadi Vacation Resort = # of different interpretations of sharia.

Extra, extra conclusion: You never, ever, ever want to let these guys issue a fatwa about you or interpret the warranty on your stereo.

Oh, and also at Little Green Footballs, check out this joker CAIR spokesman who ducks and weaves all over the place on whether he wants sharia in the U.S. In the process he comes up with some 180 proof hogwash and yet more hogwash about the compatibility of Islam and democracy and how we need to live by our ideals, such as that all men are created equal.

Yup. That's the first thing we think about when we axe ourselves, "Col. Bunny! What are the ideals that Islam and democracy have in common?"

And our answer is, "Why, one would be that all men are created equal!"

Yes, it is.

Sharia, you will also learn, is about preserving the sanctity of life, [wealth?], and honor.

This, sports fans, is a man with something to hide.

Notes
^[1] "Al-Qaradawi: Kerry Was Supported by Homosexuals and Nudists." Little Green Footballs, 6/16/06 <-- MEMRI.

We are simply not goint to touch the nudist deal. At least Imam Al-Qaradawi had the decency not to say that Kerry was supported by homosexuals and liberals.