| | Iraqis are currently having a debate on the role of Sharia in the legal system of their country. It's more nuanced than one might think. Sharia law is typically identified in our media with the horrifying system of corporal punishments the Wahabis have exported around the world, but those are features of Saudi tribal law, rather than of Sharia per se, which is basically an amalgam of Roman law with Islamic precepts and a wide variety of other influences and decisions. The outcome of the debate could be quite bad, as there is a minority of Iraqis who want just the sort of horror we have witnessed as "Islamic justice" in a variety of places. It could also end up with a more pluralistic legal order, in which people could choose forms of adjudication, a variety of Islamic processes among them. Or it could result in a strongly secular legal system that is "inspired" by Islamic tradition as a major source of law, as people sometimes say that American law is "inspired" by a "Judeo-Christian" heritage. (The leading candidate for prime minister, who is often identified as an advocate of Sharia, insists that it is a woman's freedom to choose to cover her hair or not, and that what decision she makes is not a matter for the law.) We shall see, but so far I am optimistic that the Iraqis will avoid the horrors of both Saudi Arabia and its enemy Iran, which have embraced two versions of Islamic law that are at odds with civilized values.
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