Al-Qaeda's use of hadd punishments angers Jaar residents

2011-11-19 By Abu Bakr al-Yamani in Sanaa

Residents of Jaar in southern Yemen are outraged that an al-Qaeda affiliate is carrying out hadd punishments. [Ali al-Darb / Al-Shorfa]

Al-Qaeda's flogging of five people in the southern Yemeni city of Jaar last weekend has drawn widespread denunciation from officials and the public.

Eyewitnesses told a local newspaper, al-Masdar, that members of Ansar al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda affiliate, flogged five young men in public on Saturday (November 12th) on charges they "took narcotic pills".

The newspaper stated the young men were brought from an al-Qaeda prison to the centre of Jaar Stadium, and each one was caned 80 times. Such punishments are considered hadd, the implementation of Sharia provisions, such as cutting off hands of those who steal or executing murderers.

Clashes have been on-going between the Yemeni army and al-Qaeda elements in Abyan province in recent months after al-Qaeda took control of Jaar in late March and declared it an Islamic emirate.

Ahmed al-Rahwi, deputy governor of Abyan, told Al-Shorfa that al-Qaeda's flogging of five individuals is a crime, which the population and the government strongly oppose.

"People are complaining about this terrorist and regressive group which claims to be acting in the name of religion, but it is the one violating religious principles by committing murders and causing thousands of people to be displaced as they flee their homes," he said.

"The flogging incident is another example of crimes committed by [al-Qaeda] such as cutting off hands and executions carried out in a ridiculous manner, where the perpetrators are using religion as a propaganda tool for their own purposes. They believe they are carrying out the laws of Sharia, but they are ignoring the fact that no one gave them this right," al-Rahwi said.

He said the people of Jaar "are helpless and live in a state of fear and horror", and predicted that the city will soon be void of its residents, who will continue to flee because of al-Qaeda's acts.

Col. Mohammed al-Qaidi, spokesman for the Yemeni Interior Ministry, told Al-Shorfa that Yemen is in a constant state of war against terrorism.

"What al-Qaeda is perpetrating, especially by carrying out hadd punishments, are crimes which have been denounced. These are illegal groups; therefore what is built on falsehood is, in its turn, false."

"Al-Qaeda has no legitimacy or legal justification to carry out hadd punishments such as cutting off hands, floggings or beheadings," he said.

Mohammed al-Akwaa, a scholar and mufti of the Dhamar governorate and a member of the Yemeni Scholars Committee, told Al-Shorfa that authority to implement hadd punishments belongs to the Yemeni president through the judicial branch.

He stressed that Sharia law clearly states that the ruler of the country alone has the authority to carry out hadd punishments, and that other parties are prohibited from doing so.

Dr. Said Obaid al-Jamhi, president of al-Jamhi Centre for Research and Studies, said, "Al-Qaeda's acts in Jaar are similar to what the Taliban did in Afghanistan, as they embraced the outer shell of Islam without going deep into its essence, in an attempt to create the illusion of implementing Sharia law. They tarnished Islam and distorted its image worldwide."

Al-Jamhi said that al-Qaeda and its affiliates carry strong influence in Abyan because of their terrorist activities, designed to intimidate anyone who disagrees with them.

He said individuals who carry out hadd punishments is evidence of a fundamental misunderstanding of Islam.

"Implementing hadd punishments is the state's responsibility, and if every group that takes control of a region decides to implement the hadd, this will cause chaos. These laws require a fair judicial system that guarantees the accused the right to defend himself. This is not the case in Jaar."

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS ARTICLE? (TOTAL VOTES: 15)

4 Like(s)11 Dislike(s)

READER COMMENTS

2012-5-17

What Sharia do you want to apply?! The Sharia of killing, destruction and terrorism! God forbid! It is not His Sharia that promotes killing! God is love; God is Mercy and Justice!
رافع إيده

2012-4-30

We will never forget a saying by one of the scholars. He said two years ago that if America insists on pursuing the scholars of Yemen, the whole country of Yemen will turn into al-Qaeda. What do you think of this unclear article? We don't know its boundaries.
عبد الله عبد ارحيم

2012-4-17

It is known that human gatherings become elevated socially along with the civility and mastering the law. We have witnessed societies that have started to be transformed from the tribal regime to the state regime and from the sectarian fanaticism to the idea of citizenship. Based on that, the modern states have been established after the departure of the occupier, along with his laws and rules. The world has recognized that with any person who has a behavior that is contrary to the aims of the gang, applying the rules is a matter that seems to include some sort of deterrent for the one who transgresses the others’ rights. However, this is a tribal matter in origin, because the Bedouin tribes in their beginnings used this strict method in an uncivilized way, in terms of applying the rules. But, at the same time, applying the rules is a deterring image for the one who has committed a criminal act, the one who killed intentionally, for example, or oppressed using different kinds of oppression intentionally. This one should be subjected to the application of the rule, so as to be an example for other criminals and murderers, because there are rights and duties related to others. Everyone who attacks the rights of others should be held accountable, and the accountability should be according to the kind of the transgressed thing, so it will be engrained in the people’s minds that each person who attacks the others’ rights in the different kinds of transgression will receive a deterring punishment, because the Islamic Shari’a looks upon rights and responsibilities that are among the elements of human dignity. However, if the application of the rule has been issued from a certain side outside the state and the legislative courts affiliated to the state, then this is a rejected and uncivilized matter, unless the issuing side is a legislative court affiliated to the government.
سعيد ال ياسين

2012-4-9

Al-Qaeda should receive its punishment along with its leadership, because they have exceeded the limits, and they should be among those who get their punishment, because they do not know the meaning of the Islamic religion. If they knew what the religion of the truth is, they would not kill, slaughter and carry out the criminal acts in all the places against the civilian and military people, and against the poor and the rich, and against all the sects; the Islamic and the non-Islamic ones. They only would like to show themselves, but they do not know that they are the worst people. I am one of the people who hate al-Qaeda the most, as well as the dirty acts they carry out. I swear by God that we cannot keep silent before the acts they carry out. It is not the only one that applies the limits to the poor people whom they arrest or control in one of the Islamic regions; no, but the other one that is mean and hateful, the Taliban, on the other hand, does not want the welfare of Islam, and it applies the limits against the Muslims. The al-Qaeda organization has created a matter which works so that, if there is a youth who wears manufactured clothing in a season, he should be punished, because they know that this is the fashion, and that the summer in all the Arab countries is very hot, and that the youth are men and not women, so as to show off their genitals, or to see the women driving the cars. They do not accept that, because this is one of the prohibited matters, and it is not prohibited for them to commit adultery or carry out mean acts so as to enjoy themselves, but for others this is not permitted. I swear by God that they should be punished, so they will know that God is the truth, and that the acts they carry out against the Muslims are the most brutal.
ahmedelbrazily

2012-1-28

The penalty must be executed. Terrorism follows no religion and those are devils, not humans.
مهدي سبع

2012-1-2

The crimes committed by the terrorists of the al-Qaeda organization, which operates according to the principals of the criminal Bin Laden, such as killing the innocents and civilians, only reflect the extent of its brutality, ugliness and lack of respect towards innocent blood everywhere in the world. The terrorists commit crimes against the Yemenis in the places which they control by force. The Yemenis are oppressed by the terrorists of al-Qaeda, who commit all kinds of crimes against the people. This is of course to spread terror and fear among the people living there to control them on the one hand; it is also a method of publicity for al-Qaeda to claim that they work according to the principles and teachings of Islam, by applying the prescribed punishments. If they really knew the religion, those dirty criminals would have applied the prescribed punishments to themselves. So, I think the method and application of prescribed punishments in Yemen by the criminals of al-Qaeda is only to intimidate whoever watches or listens to them from the people of the region, in order to control them. The scenes of cutting off the hands and skin and beheading people in public are intended to control the area through fear. This is why everybody has to fearlessly face al-Qaeda. I urge the Yemeni army to move more in order to destroy terrorists and to relieve our people of their crimes.
Atheer

2011-12-2

The terrorist organization of al-Qaeda has no religion and it has nothing to do with the Islamic religion. That is why we cannot say that they are right, even if they claim that they want to punish wrongdoers. By logic and reason, do you think that the terrorist organization of al-Qaeda should punish others? And can it replace the law and the government? Of course, it has nothing to do with religious principles. In fact, they are just a group of pretenders and opportunists who pretend to apply the principles of religion. In reality, they are the biggest enemies of religion. Besides, they have tarnished the image of Islam through their violence and their criminal operations of killing, bombing, kidnapping and torture, perpetrated against the innocent. Thus, the terrorist organization of al-Qaeda has no legal or governmental status to punish others. In fact, this terrorist organization has only worked on killing people and on sowing discord in Yemen. Besides, it has no official or legal status to replace the Yemeni state or law. I think that the terrorist organization of al-Qaeda in Yemen is one of the most effective criminal organizations in the current time. That is why I blame the Yemeni government because it has allowed the terrorist organization of al-Qaeda to carry out all of their criminal operations in Yemen. And at the same time, it has oppressed the innocent citizens in Yemen because they have called for their legitimate rights and for a decent life.
ناصح شريف

2011-12-1

Yemenis should be cautious and work on ridding themselves of such a filthy thing called terrorism and terrorists. God will support them because He supports the right. God willing, the right will be on their side, God willing. Thus, Yemenis need a force that supports them in order to face al-Qaeda. Arabs from their side must cooperate with Yemenis because the latter are poor and it is enough for them the events which are happening to them. God will be with them. Besides, we pray God to grant them security, safety and wealth. May their happiness will be doubled when terrorism and terrorists together with the damned tyrant ruler will be ousted from Yemen once for all, God willing.
قيس

2011-11-22

I do not expect to find a website that is religiously committed and 100% neutral, but I expect it to be at least 50% neutral, so that we are not totally exposed. The question I want to ask is, “Does what al-Qaeda did to the drugged youth agree with Muslim beliefs? Or did they bring a new innovation into the religious beliefs, which means they are violators of the religion?”
البراء

2011-11-21

We pray to God to lead them to apply Sharia in Yemen and all over the world.