Said1
Gold Member
Friday, July 01, 2005
Camel Economics
Outsiders frequently tend to view Scandinavia more or less as one country. It is true that these countries have much in common, but the differences that do exist should not be underestimated. When it comes to reactions to Muslim immigration, they are actually quite significant. Sweden is perhaps the most suicidal dhimmi nation in the Western world, and is pretty much disintegrating at this very moment. Neighboring Finland hardly has any immigrants at all. In comparison, 85 % of MPs in Norway recently passed a law saying that Norwegians are guilty of discriminating against immigrants until proven otherwise. At the same time, the authorities are covering up a disturbing amount of rapes committed by immigrants, and the fact that native Norwegians may become a minority in their own country in a couple of generations if the current immigration continues. As a contrast, Denmark is probably the one Western nation where the debate surrounding Muslim immigration is most mainstream and open. What's more remarkable is that it started even before 9/11 or the killings of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh. Since coming to power nearly four years ago, PM Anders Fogh Rasmussens centre-right government has imposed some of the toughest regulations in the EU on asylum seekers. Denmark has tightened its immigration rules to make it harder for fundamentalist Muslim clerics to settle in the country. In a historic ruling, the Danish Supreme Court decided to expel two young Turks from Denmark even though they have lived in the Scandinavian country their entire lives. Several European countries are looking to Denmark for inspiration on dealing with immigration problems. In the Netherlands, already several elements of the tough Danish family reunification rules have been copied. The apparent success of the Danish model is being studied closely in Britain and other EU countries. Even Queen Margrethe has said that Islam is challenge that Danes will have to meet, and that "there are some things that should not be tolerated even if it is not politically correct to say so."
Unfortunately, all this does not mean that Denmarks problems are over. The toughening of immigration and integration policies has also encountered strong opposition. Unknown attackers set fire to the immigration minister's car. Rikke Hvilshoj, her husband and two young children were rescued from their house. A group calling itself "Beatte Without Borders" has said it carried out the attack, condemning the government's "racist immigration policy. During the election campaigns in February 2005, Islamic leaders urged the country's 170,000 Muslims to vote against the ruling centre-right coalition. Schools in larger cities disadvantaged neighbourhoods say they are pressed to their limits by the flow of young immigrants, some of whom are spreading violence from schools to taxi drivers. Muslim extremists have declared that the Danish PM and Defense Minister are legitimate terror targets because of Denmark's participation in Iraq, and Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir are doing aggressive recruitment efforts among young immigrants. Members of Denmark's moderate Muslim community say they are reluctant to speak out with critical observations of their religion, fearing social isolation, threats and violence. A Jewish man was attacked for reading from the Koran. An imam infuriated the nation during a Friday prayer session by insisting that Muslim girls should cover themselves from head to toe and condemning women who use perfume. Even though British newspaper the Guardian accused Denmark of "flirting with fascism" when the immigration restrictions were introduced, according to leading Islam-critic Lars Hedegaard and others, they are not nearly enough. Recent events indicate that he's probably right in his assessment.
Two men have been killed in street shootings in a row involving a group of second generation immigrants in Copenhagen. An injured gang leader was subsequently freed by a group of masked men from the State Hospital, where he was under police surveillance. Integration Minister Hvilshøj rejected a proposal from Imam Abu Laban that blood money be paid to the family of a man who was killed. Since the shooting of a 24 year old and the wounding of his older brother, there has been much speculation about when revenge would be taken. But according to the Imam, the thirst for revenge could be cooled if 200,000 kroner were paid either by the family of the doorman who fired the shots or by the Islamic community. He said the practice of paying blood money to the family of a deceased person was normal in Muslim societies. Hvilshøj said such action could harm the entire integration process in Denmark. With the Islamic religious community as mediator, the family of the doorman, who fired the killing shot and who is now in prison, is being pressured to move from Copenhagen by the family of the dead man. But the agreement has been met with sharp criticism by experts in criminal law who say it is unlawful coercion and in contravention of the Danish sense of democracy. Only the courts of law can resolve murder cases in Denmark. Meanwhile there is growing fear amongst politicians that the immigrant environment in the Nørrebro area in Copenhagen, which has been unofficially declared an Islamic state by some of its residents, is developing into a parallel society where ancient traditions threaten Danish law.
200,000 Danish kroner is approximately the value of 100 camels. Some baffled commentators at first thought it was said tongue-in-cheek when Imam Abu Laban wanted the equivalent of 100 camels to be paid for a mans life. Thats probably not the case. Ahmad Abu Laban is involved in an international group of Muslims who are known for supporting the anti-Western Islamist struggle of the school of global Jihad. He also tried to block the re-election of the right-wing government in Denmark in the previous election.
The idea of blood money originates from the Koran, 2.178:
O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. And for him who is forgiven somewhat by his (injured) brother, prosecution according to usage and payment unto him in kindness. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord. He who transgresseth after this will have a painful doom.
This principle of qisas, an eye for an eye in the case of homicide or injury, is taken very literally. A man in Iran was recently sentenced to have his eyes gouged out, after he had destroyed another mans eyes by throwing acid in his face. However, in accordance with Sharia the family and relatives of a murder victim can choose to claim diyya, blood money, from the murderer, or pardon them, instead of allowing the execution to go ahead. In the case of homicide, the diyya for an adult Muslim man is valued at 100 camels. This is provided the victim's kins agree to accept the blood money. Indemnity (diya) is the payment of blood-money to the next-of-kin or the injured party, as opposed to retaliation (qisas), in which the killer is put to death or has a like injury inflicted on him/her. It depends upon what the family of the deceased or the injured party wants.
The number of 100 camels is based on the example of Muhammad himself, as recorded in sound hadith:
Allah's Apostle did not like that the Blood-money of the killed one be lost without compensation, so he paid one-hundred camels out of the camels of Zakat (to the relatives of the deceased) as Diya (Blood-money).
According to Imam Malik, founder of one of the four law schools of Sunni Islam, diyya is:
one hundred camels for a life, one hundred camels for a nose if completely removed, a third of the blood-money for a wound in the brain, the same as that for a belly wound, fifty for an eye, fifty for a hand, fifty for a foot, ten camels for each finger, and five for teeth, and five for a head wound which laid bare the bone.
Even though camels are the basic unit for calculating blood money, many jurists stipulate that you can pay an amount equal to the worth of 100 camels in other livestock, silver, gold or even cash:
Continued
