What is Shari'a law? Shari'a literally translates as "way " or "path to the water source". Shari'a law is derived from the Qur'an (Koran), the Muslim holy book, and Sunna or hadith, which means example and is derived from the sayings and practices of the prophet Muhammad. Therefore Shari'a law is often derived from what Muslim leaders believed Muhammad would do. Simply Shari'a is the divinely revealed law, or way of life which has been determined for all who practice the Islamic faith. Thus Shari'a law encompasses various aspects of daily life, including family, sexuality and social issues.
The practice of Shari'a law has frequently left women and girls with legal shortcomings or forced them to live in fear, especially in instances of rape. Rape is often treated as instances of adultery, traditionally criminal sanctions for sexual relations outside of wedlock are death by stoning if the accused is married and 100 lashes if they are unmarried or 80 lashes if there is an accusation not being chaste which is unable to be proven. Under Sharia law it is often required that the crime be validated by witnesses, in the case of rape it is to be witnessed by four Muslim-Males, or there is a fear or risk that the victim may be charged with adultery.
It was Shari'a law that was carried out on 13 year-old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow in Somalia after an the al-Shabaab rebel militia group had the girl stoned to death for adultery after her father reported that she was raped by three men.
Reports indicate that she had been raped by three men while traveling on foot to visit her grandmother in the war-torn capital, Mogadishu. Following the assault, she sought protection from the authorities, who then accused her of adultery and sentenced her to death. A child was victimized twice ‚ first by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible for administering justice. UNICEF
Duhulow was stoned in front of a crowed of a 1,000 who filed into the stadium to watch 50 men burry her up to her neck and brutally throw stones at her head until she was finally dead.
Inside the stadium, militia members opened fire when some of the witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, and shot dead a boy who was a bystander. Amnesty
The child begged for mercy as she was being burried;
“Don't kill me, don't kill me,” she said, according to the man who wanted to remain anonymous. A few minutes later, more than 50 men threw stones. BBC
Saddly this is not the first report of a child being sentenced to death under Shari’a law, nor is it the first time that the childs age was reported incorrectly to avoid international media attention, in 2004 16 year-old Atefah Sahaaleh sentenced to death for “crimes against chastity” (BBC).
"This was not justice, nor was it an execution. This child suffered a horrendous death… This killing… demonstrates the importance of international action to investigate and document such abuses, through an International Commission of Inquiry." said David Copeman, Amnesty International's Somalia Campaigner.
Shari’a law often leads to rampid impunity for rapists, and leaves women and girls afraid to report their attacks for fear of deadly retaliation. This recent case has led many to ask the question, “Has Shari’a law gone too far?”
