| Hadd! Enough! No, the title for this short exposé is not meant to downplay the insanity of two couples in love being shot to death recently by the Taliban for committing what is known under Islamic law as a “Hadd” offence. Hadd offences carry specific, immutable penalties set by the Koran or by the Prophet Muhammad. Under ordinary circumstances an Islamic scholar or Muslim holy man will be called upon to pronounce the death sentence as was done in the case of the young couple in Afghanistan who were caught last week trying to elope, but not the couple shot to death at about the same time in Pakistan for having an alleged affair. Hadd offences are clearly defined in the Koran and in the Hadiths (the sayings and example of the Prophet), as is the unambiguous, unalterable punishment to be administered to the sinners. Therefore, we should not be surprised, in the black and white pitiless world envisioned by Allah and His Messenger, to see Taliban gunmen take the law into their own hands as was, and is done in Afghanistan and now Pakistan. The taking of innocent lives in cold blood by mainly graduates of Saudi funded Pakistani madrassas (Islamic schools) is usually done with the approval of the Taliban leadership. Allowing mostly young religious zealots to summarily execute non-combatants, including mothers and daughters, increases the terror factor, which, in practical terms, means that a relatively few cold-blooded killers can control a large population. But this is not the only reason why Students of the Koran, the most common interpretation of the Arabic Taliban, are allowed to kill with impunity. From the perspective of the religious fanatics who dominate the Taliban leadership these Student killers are more than qualified to act as both Allah's judges and executioners having spent most of they lives, before joining the fight to establish Allah's Kingdom on earth, assiduously studying the Koran and the words and example His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad. Boreal, April 26, 2009
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