Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Personal Injury Law Blogs -> West Neanderthal Drive

Personal Injury Law

: West Neanderthal Drive

Liaquat Ali Khan Watch

Professor Liaquat Ali Khan says what he thinks. Again. This time, about Pakistan's role in the war on terror:

The September 11 attacks provided the perfect occasion for the United States to issue ?with them or with us? threats to Pakistan that had given birth to the Taliban phenomenon in hopes of fomenting terrorism against India. Musharraf, who at the time was consolidating his illegitimate military coup in Pakistan, had no option but to turn over Pakistan?s terrorism policy. In deposing the Taliban but without abandoning them, Pakistani generals saw the opening of a grand opportunity that would bring money, military hardware, hobnobbing with Washington D.C., and influence peddling.

Pakistan?s September 11 summersault, however, has been nothing but deceitful. It oscillates between killing and dealing. Pakistani rulers accustomed to duplicity shore up the rhetoric of Pakistan being the frontline ally in the war on terror so that more American aid would pour into the nation?s militarized economy. Periodically, poor villagers and school children in the tribal areas are killed to showcase the war on terror. These killings are ritual sacrifices to quench the Bush administration?s insatiable thirst for blood---blood as proof that Pakistan is killing Muslim militants. But even Pakistan?s killings are intermittent and convoluted. To frustrate Americans and to confuse the people of Pakistan, the ruling elites frequently flip and make peace with the militants

The whole thing lives here. As a member of the Washburn Law School faculty, Prof. Khan is a municipal employee of our town (Washburn being approximately the last municipal university in the country). Links to his published writings can be found at the Washburn Law School web site, here. The above extract comes from a piece appearing at The American Muslim, where the home page contains a most curious link. It's worth looking at in some detail:

On Apostasy and Islam:
100+ Notable Islamic Voices affirming the Freedom of Faith

Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Upper Iowa University

April 2, 2007
[Compilation in Progress;{N.B. Email address redacted} ]

Freedom of faith is essential to Islam. Prophets and Messengers of Allah along with their communities had to struggle for their freedom of faith. That Islam is by choice is unambiguously stated in the Qur'an and reflected in the Prophetic legacy. However, throughout history, the issue has been clouded due to mixing the issue of apostasy with treason. Now one of the biggest tools of anti-Islam/anti-Muslim propaganda is based on the issue of apostasy, claiming that Islam does not uphold the freedom of faith. Even our own children are getting confused and many are quietly disavowing our wishy-washy position on as fundamental issue as freedom of faith/religion.

Undeniably, the traditional position of Muslim scholars and jurists has been that apostasy [riddah] is punishable by death. The longstanding problem of the traditional position, as held by Classical jurists or scholars, can be explained and excused as not being able to see apostasy, an issue of pure freedom of faith and conscience, separate from treason against the community or the state. However, the accummulated experience over the history in terms of abuse of this position about apostasy even against Muslims as well as the changed context of a globally-connected, pluralistic society should help us appreciate the contemporary challenges in light of the Qur'anic norms and the Prophetic legacy. In this context, while the classical misunderstanding about this issue of apostasy is excusable, the position of some of the well-known contemporary scholars is not.

Taqqiyah, y'think? We can't tell anymore. There's no deception, religious or otherwise, on the part of Prof. Khan, though. It's pretty clear to us what he thinks.

Full post as published by West Neanderthal Drive on March 03, 2008 (boomark / email).