Men and women of various ages marched through the streets of Male’ yesterday (April 19), calling for Islamic Sharia to be fully implemented in the Maldives.
Yesterday’s march, which organisers claimed had no political backing, was said to have been led by a group of young people calling for Sharia to be fully implemented to protect the Maldives from “calamities” that it is presently facing, according to local media.
However, one local religious NGO has argued that Maldivian society was not presently ready to undergo such radical reforms to the nation’s legal system, arguing that any changes would need to be made gradually over a long period of time.
Commencing yesterday at 4:30pm by the social centre in the capital, the pro-Sharia march concluded just before 6:00pm at the artificial beach area.
A small number of demonstrators were in attendance, reported the Sun Online news website. Organisers have pledged that further pro-Sharia marches were anticipated in future.
Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and State Islamic Minister Mohamed Didi were not responding to calls at the time of press.
“Long process”
Co-founder of the Islamic Foundation of Maldives (IFM) Ibrahim Nazim, speaking in a personal capacity, told Minivan News that he believed demonstrators may have been affiliated with fellow religious NGOs in the country.
Nazim said key figures behind the demonstration would have likely been religious conservatives, who in some cases may have held more “radical” views of Islam.
In addressing the key aims of the march, he added that from a personal perspective, Maldivian society was not presently an environment conducive for Islamic Sharia to be implemented outright.
Nazim argued that implementing Sharia law correctly would be a long process for the country. He took the example of other Islamic nations such as Pakistan that had sought to implement a complete adherence to Sharia law in a short period of time, resulting in power struggles and other political complications as a result.
“This is not something we can just implement overnight, we will require people to change their attitudes before we are ready for such a change,” he suggested. “It will be a long process for the country.”
When contacted about the implementation of Sharia in the Maldives, President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad today recommended Minivan News contact the Islamic Ministry over religious issues concerning the state.
“I think it would be best to speak to the Islamic Ministry on this,” Masood said.
Meanwhile, a senior figure serving within the current government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed – speaking on condition of anonymity – argued that any significant changes to the country’s faith would always have to be made gradually and could not be made in a short period of time.
The source argued that the previous government of former President Mohamed Nasheed – which claimed to favour what it called a “more moderate and tolerant” form of Islam – had attempted to bring changes to the country’s perception of faith and religious conservatism in too short a period of time.
While claiming to personally favour a “more tolerant” interpretation of Islam, the source argued that the resulting opposition to the former government’s religious stance had likely led to the controversial transfer of power that saw former President Nasheed resign on February 7, 2012. His resignation came on the back of a mutiny among sections of the police and military.
Islamic Sharia in the Maldives
Under article 142 of the Maldives’ Constitution, the judiciary is presently required to looked to turn to Islamic Sharia in any matters where the Constitution or the law is silent.
To this end, the country’s courts have in certain cases granted the death sentence to severe crimes such as murder, while also using punishments like flogging in certain sexual offence cases.
However, the acting Head of State under each of the last three governments has commuted death sentences to life sentences in every single case.
The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.
Legal Reform
In December 2012, former Attorney General Azima Shukoor drafted a bill outlining how the death sentence should be executed in the Maldives as part of ongoing consultations on enacting such a punishment.
Lethal injection was identified as the state’s preferred method of capital punishment in the bill, while further consultations were being taken on possibly removing the serving Head of State’s right to commute death sentences upheld by the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed had pledged to review the possibility of legal reforms to bring an end to the use of punishments like flogging in the country’s justice system.
Addressing the scale of these potential reforms, President’s Office Media Secretary Masood said last month that all authorities involved in the process would have to tread “a very fine line” in order to tackle long standing “traditions” and beliefs in the country.
“Reforms must be undertaken, but this must be done gradually considering we are dealing with a process embedded in society,” he said, discussing the government’s commitments to bring an end to sentences like flogging. “A certain amount of compromise may be needed.”
The wider Maldives legal system has itself been brought under the spotlight after former President Nasheed controversially detained the Criminal Court Chief Judge last year.
Nasheed’s government argued the decision was necessary as the judge in question had become a threat to “national security” after ordering investigations into his own alleged misconduct halted.
Nasheed is presently facing trial in the country over the abduction of the judge.
Following the commencement of the trial, Gabriela Knaul, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, earlier this year raised several concerns about the effectiveness of the wider Maldives legal system following a fact-finding mission.
Knaul stated back in February that upon conclusion of her mission meetings, she had found that the concept of independence of the judiciary has been “misconstrued and misinterpreted” by all actors, including the judiciary itself, in the Maldives.
Addendum: This article earlier attributed views of Co-founder of the Islamic Foundation of Maldives (IFM) Ibrahim Nazim to the organisation. He has subsequently clarified that his comments were made in a personal capacity.
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loud minority, thats all this is
Medias gets overly excited about stupid crap, the more you give these people press, the more they will be heard
How absolutely stupid. These people are so indoctrinated and so scared of perfectly explainable events, that they would rather put their faith in the supernatural than the real and rational.
The Mordisians have the curse on both worlds.
1) We are on Indian descent. Indians have been hailed as the all-size-fit-every-corner in the world. From freezing colds to frying hot corners of the world, Indians have got a community. And they are unbeatable rapists inherently ingrained in them.
2) We are Muslims without any money. Beggars. So, unlike the Saudi & Emirates when we defecate, there are no people to lick us clean. And on top, we are labelled terrorists and hate mongers.
The result : Everybody hates us. Despises us.
It seems as if these mullahs are divided between two camps: the Qutbi activists who want a top-down revolution like Khomeini and the Maududi strategists who want a bottom-up implementation via more cunning means.
Either way, the citizens of this intolerant Islamic Republic don't mind as long as we have amputations and stonings. They're brainwashed enough to accept whatever a mullah says as gospel truth. If not, we'll have those "moderates" speaking up and protesting against these mullahs. These politicians hesitate to rush into full Shariah only because of pressure from powerful infidels. Pretty soon, the jihadis will start with the bombings and killings and the taghut politicians will have no choice but to become another vassal state of the Arab Empire.
Since you didn't mention it, some of the participants were bound up in black bodybags, making it impossible to identify them. This of course, is an offence under Maldivian law (Article 21 of the Freedom of Assembly Regulations). But who cares right? Allah Laws trumps any human law, so arresting them would be unholy, as opposed to arresting Hilath and his fellow protestors who were assaulted by terrorists at the Human Rights Day protest.
@andre andreas
Not necessarily indians, maldives was a major trading route, obviously indian bloods there, but a lot of srilankan, african, arab and other ethnicity;s are there as well
i support islam
It is not possible to see Islamic Sharia being implemented in this country anymore, however much one would love to see it.
This would be a hell of a cat to bell!
The different sheikhs we have today are a wonderful bunch. They would dance on any floor to which MONEY and WEALTH is showered!
Why there is no modern Mullah in Maldives? It is very strange that there is not even a single Mullah who can think out of the box. Why can’t they change the concept of Sharia, Can’t a set of rules drawn by Mulsilm legislature be called a Sharia law. If Mullahs can give fathwa changing the definition of Sharia, the whole problem is solved. It seems Quran is not meant to be used in the courts of law, All Muslims sing the words of Quran in different tunes in mosques, homes, classes like if it was meant for some kind of prayers. Isn’t funny when people are praying, they mumble “cut the hands of thieves, stone to death who commit adultery, women are half to men and so on”. Quran is mainly used for spiritual purpose. How this became a law book is beyond my comprehension, can any mullah give some reasonable insights? I think some people have messed up with Quran and it all look like some stupid book,Mullahs need to raise question about the authenticity of Quran. Some ignorant people have put so many things in the Quran and called them words of god to threaten gullible without realizing that one day there will be millions of people reading this with critical mind.
Today the headlines are pro-sharia march. Get what you wish for and tomorrows headlines will be crack down on protest groups because sharia law forbids it.
They have got to be the dumbest people in history.
Another staged event by the mullah's to crawl in to positions of power in the country to try and claim wealth while opressing the peoples rights . the same tactics which were used by the so called infidel churches of the medevial times to control the wealth while masquerading as men of god and in reality all they do is sodomize and get high from watching the sadistic rituals of burning stoning flogging amputations etc
in a way sharia implementation would mean a complete overhaul of the judiciary system. that works well for MDP 😛
@rationale:
The moderate mullahs are terrified of the insane terrorist acts of the majority of brainwashed Maldivians. Anyone who speaks against Wahhabi Arab doctrine is a heretic. Afrasheem was debrained, Hilath nearly slaughtered, Maumoon declared a kaafir. Anyone who reads the fatwas of mullahs like Iyaz or Sameer or Ilyas (some of whom work in the government or are associated with terrorist orgs like Adhaalath or J Salaf) can see their intolerance of any opposition. Anyone who disagrees becomes a kaafir worthy of death. Dr Ahmed Shaheed speaks against these mullahs on Twitter from the safety of his UK home, and you can see beardless semi-mullahs from Maldives trying to silence him by threatening him. Even Nasheed acknowledged the mullah's power in his Copenhagen QA. This makes one wonder why he gave them so much power in the first place.
Sharia law in the twenty first century?
How very progressive of the Maldives!!.....but then you are sunni muslims so no surprises there.....after all you are the true believers of the only true religion in the world, God's Chosen People and the epicentre of the whole goddam universe.....not garbage like us kaffir hindus.
I wonder what changes you will have to make to your tourist infrastructure once you have established your sharia compliant islamic caliphate?
No shorts or swimsuits allowed on the beach?
Public floggings and amputations for street entertainment?
Women tourists to be fully robed in saudi style abayas?
Segregated public places and restaurants?
No booze and only halal meals available?
All businesses closed down five times a day for compulsory prayers?
Ban women from driving?
Marriage to nine year old girls made legal?
Religious poilce posts in all resorts to make sure everyone behaves?
Ban on holding hands in public and kissing and sex in private?
All men to grow beards, skull caps and short pyjamas?
All prostitutes, ladyboys and rent boys deported and all spas and massage parlours closed?
Thank you Maldivians for providing so much entertainment to us cow worshippers.
I would not let my dog sleep in these peoples beds because the stench might rub off on him ! Nuff Said !
@MissIndia NewDelhi on Sun, you have omitted two things the Mullahs really wont; prosecuting age 10 yeas for male and 2 yeas female. I wonder if there is a god will he or she is pleased.
fuck this s**t
The intolerant attitude of most of the kuffar who commented in this thread just portrays their mindset. These kuffar have more venom in their brain then living cells.
I was one of the few who was in that rally and the gist of the message we wanted to convey was that the so called "izzaitheri" (Honorable) members have no honor if they to against the rule of the Creator. Basically that was the message. It was a peaceful respectful march, a show of support to religious values we cherish.
Of course its fully well understood that muslims shall not enjoy any such rights as freedom of expression or assembly or anything. These rights are only for the kuffar. For them its fair enough.
What has to happen is for our country folks need to understand the sinister propaganda behind this evil machinery at work which constantly vilifies Islam without any provocation. Without this understanding we are just like zombies following mindlessly the thaaghooth.
Salaams