REUTERS ARABNEWS
Friday 30 November 2012
CAIRO: An assembly drafting Egypt’s new constitution voted yesterday to keep the principles of Islamic law as the main source of legislation, unchanged from the previous constitution in force under former President Hosni Mubarak.
The issue was the subject of a long dispute between Salafis and liberals in the assembly which will vote on each of 234 articles in the draft constitution before it is sent to President Muhammad Mursi for approval.
After that, Mursi must put it to a popular referendum.
The Muslim Brotherhood hopes that quick approval of the constitution will help end a crisis ignited by a decree that expanded his powers.
While Article Two of the constitution — describing the source of legislation — stays the same, the constitution includes new provisions explaining what is meant by “the principles” of Shariah.
The assembly also approved a new article that states that Al-Azhar, a seat of Islamic learning, must be consulted on “matters related to Shariah.”
The final draft makes historic changes to Egypt’s system of government. For example, it sets a limit on the number of terms a president may serve to two. Mubarak stayed in power for three decades.
It also introduces a degree of civilian oversight over the powerful military establishment, although not enough for some critics of the document.
The Islamic Law should, of course, be a source of inspiration and can and possibly should have supremacy in a believer’s mind.
However, the constitution of country of enlightened and moderate people, who do not want to be ruled by the Mullahs, should be based on agreed on principles, as in the case of constitution of USA. I believe that what I have said is not my idea, but, the intent of the Holy Quran for our times.
He says that we can draw our inspiration from our scriptures but we have to translate the message into a language that is understood by other fellow citizens from different religions.
One of the points President Obama makes is that the scripture has to be translated into a universal message by the believers, one that is befitting the realities of our global village.
The Holy Quran has a dynamic and universal message and Sir Zafrulla Khan has explained this issue, in some details in his book titled: Islam and Human Rights.