Following Gadaffi's death, Libya’s interim
government has announced that “Sharia
law” will govern the country.
Photo Credit: The Ahmadiyya Post

Last year I wrote a favorable article about Professor Mahfooz A. Kanwar, a rare Muslim who believes one should have loyalty to one's adopted country above loyalty to Islam. Of course merely uttering this is blasphemy and in Shariah compliant countries would subject the offender, unless he recants, to death.

I agree with the Professor, however his beliefs contradict Islamic law - the Hadiths are quite clear - Muslims are to obey the laws of the land unless they conflict with the laws of God:

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 203:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

The ‘Prophet said, “It is obligatory for one to listen to and obey (the ruler’s orders) unless these orders involve one disobedience (to Allah); but if an act of disobedience (to Allah) is imposed, he should not listen to or obey it.”

But how should the pious Muslim be obedient to Allah? Muslims are commanded to fight unbelievers until they are either dead (1), converted to Islam (2), or in a permanent state of subjugation under Muslim domination (3). Non-observant Muslims who are unaware of these commands have no problem being loyal to their adopted country.

However, devout Muslims cannot be loyal to God if they do not engage in jihad to make Islam the dominant religion in the land. This is the dilemma observant Muslims face living in non-Muslim countries. As I wrote in Is there anything wrong with Muslims in Our Government? "Those who take their Islam seriously know that the end purpose of their lives is to turn Dar al-Harb (non-Muslim countries) into Dar al-Islam."

Before any reader complains that Christianity and Judaism also require that their members not obey temporal authority if it is in conflict with God's commands, let me point out there is a big difference. The God of Christians and Jews does not command His faithful to strive in the path of God to kill, convert, or subjugate non-believers.

I have written before that I find a problem with any religious group that holds God's Law as more important than the laws of our land, specifically Catholics should not run hospitals because Catholic doctrine is in conflict with many medical procedures and US laws. God's law has no place in medicine.

Likewise I ridiculed pious Jews who endanger the lives of others merely to foolishly comply with Jewish law.

In contrast with devout Muslims, devout Christians and Jews will not try to subvert our government nor try change our Constitution nor attempt to destroy our culture in order to comply with the commands of their faith. That cannot be said about devout Muslims.

That is the difference between devout Muslims who obey God's Law and devout infidels who obey God's Law.