Promoting the notion of a single unified entity called the Ummah (“the Community of Believers”), Muslim fundamentalists ignore the enormous social, cultural and theological diversity that exists both within, and between, the world’s various Muslim-majority states. Even within the Arab Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s official Wahhabi Islam is highly distinctive, characterized by numerous features completely at odds with the traditional Islam historically practiced by most inhabitants of Mecca, Medina and the wider Arab and Islamic world. The Wahhabis, like other Muslim fundamentalists, propagate the naive concept of an ideal and ahistorical Islam,...

The Muslim majority nations for centuries or for decades know no other law than Sharia, at least the last three generations grew up knowing only one thing; Sharia Law, and many of them do not even have an idea of another law. As Americans we know the civil laws, we seldom know about the existence of any other laws, only the Jews and Muslim are aware of the other laws, while Sikhs, Hindus and others fall upon their traditions to resolve their personal conflicts....

The charges against Say also cited other tweets he sent, including one – based on a verse attributed to famous medieval poet Omar Khayyam – that questioned whether heaven was a tavern or a brothel, because of the promises that wine will flow and each believer will be greeted by virgins.

According to Islamic law, a contractual relationship exists between the Muslim government and the non-Muslim residents of Dar al-Islam. By concluding the contract of dhimmah, the Muslim ruler guarantees the protection of life and property as well as freedom of religion to non-Muslims who agree to abide by the law of the land and to pay Jiziyah (poll tax). The jurists hold that the contract of dhimmah is terminated only by one of the following two acts: first, when a dhimmi becomes permanently settled outside Dar al-Islam;63 and second, when a strong group of non-Muslims having enough mana‘ah rebels against the Muslim government.....

The Islamic law on rebellion offers a comprehensive code for regulating the conduct of hostilities in non-international armed conflicts and thus it can be used as a model for improving the contemporary international legal regime. It not only provides an objective criterion for ascertaining existence of armed conflict but also recognizes the combatant status for rebels and the necessary corollaries of their de facto authority in the territory under their control. Thus it helps reduce the sufferings of civilians and ordinary citizens during rebellion and civil wars. At the same time, Islamic law asserts that the territory under the de facto control of the rebels is de jure part of the parent state. It therefore answers the worries of those who fear that the grant of combatant status to rebels might give legitimacy to their struggle…..

Islam, while making divorce permissible, held it to be one of the most reprehensible acts. A Muslim man enjoys an absolute, unfettered right of Talaq (divorce) and a woman has the right to Khula — a form of dissolution of marriage — which operates as a bargain....

Given the above, Islamic marriage aims, among others, at securing happiness, wellbeing, and prosperity of married couples, families, children, and the whole society at large. Happy, stable marriages lead, of course, to sound, strong families and communities. Therefore, preservation of the family, the offspring, and the social order is greatly emphasized and promoted by Islamic Shariah....

For me, my atheism holds this broader meaning because I am taking a political stand to oppose mythology and advocate for evidence-based science and critical thinking. My stand is a way of supporting freedom of expression, freedom of religion or no-religion. I stand, indeed, for human rights in order to support equal rights for all citizens despite our gender, age, sexuality, religion or ethnicity....

The perennial Islam basher Robert Spencer has put one more intellectual challenge to the scholars of Islam who vociferously claim that the Quran does not prescribe death for apostasy. They say that nowhere in the Quran there is a verse that directly or indirectly supports the killing of apostates.  All the verses dealing with the Quran explicitly speak of a punishment for apostasy in the hereafter though God....

Ma’adh was asked how he would govern. Ma’adh said, according to the Quran. The Prophet thereupon asked what he would do if he did not find the solution to the problem in the Quran, to which Ma’adh said he would govern according to the Sunnah. But when the Prophet asked if he could not find it in the Sunnah also, Ma’adh said “ana ajtahidu” (I will exert myself to find the solution). The Prophet thereupon patted his back and told him he was right....

According to Muslim perception, Islam is not only a religion but also a civilization and social order based upon revealed principles. Islam stands out distinctly among the religions of the world in that its punishment and retribution laws are applied under exclusive rules and regulations, dealing with matters related to obligations to Allah and obligations to human kind....

Mir Jan’s scheme is so much part of Partisan’s life, that even to think of questioning it is tantamount to questioning Zakat itself, in short, it is blasphemy. And I have been accused of just this, because I discovered the fraud and spoke up against the scheme. Therefore tomorrow, at dawn, I die. I questioned ‘Tadmeer ul Ibad,’ because I was surprised that a Zakat fund could have a name that meant ‘Destruction of Mankind.’...

Dr. Lau is absolutely right in her analysis. Indeed, except conditional polygyny, the Koran frowns upon all types of non-monogamous relationships within in and outside marriage. Significantly, polygyny itself finds mention just once (4:3) in the entire Koran. Yet Muslim men have abused it over centuries without appreciating the spirit behind its exceptional sanction, which is clearly contextualised in the historical conditions of the time when a large number of women were widowed and children orphaned as Muslims suffered heavy casualties in defending the nascent Islamic community in Medina.

From the accounts of the holy companions and from various hadiths, it can be fairly established that during the life of the Prophet (pbuh) the practice of talaq-e-ahsan (Quranic process of talaq) was in vogue as the holy Prophet (pbuh) disapproved triple talaq (talaq-e-mughallaza or talaq-e-bid'a). During his life, three or more talaqs at one go were considered one pronouncement. ... The current practice of triple talaq or talaq-e-bid’ah is a sheer violation of the Quranic ordainments and the practices of the holy Prophet (pbuh).

The most worrying aspect of this practice is that the corrupt muftis and mullahs have promoted this un-Islamic practice to satisfy their lust for having sex with multiple women without fear of condemnation or opposition either from their wives or from the society. Such un-Islamic practices of irresponsible sections of the Muslim society should be exposed and stopped to save the lives and honour of women in distress. Halala is an offshoot of another un-Islamic custom, triple Talaq. Quran clearly gives the method for divorce in three months; if that is followed and made mandatory there would be no Halala issue altogether.