Sumbul Ali-Karamali

Award-Winning Author and Speaker

Shariah and the Taliban

The Taliban are mostly illiterate thugs who use religion (or their understanding of it, which is minimal at best) to dominate and brutalize. They're no different from the KKK. They're more successful only because they operate in a failed state. Asking the Taliban to define shariah is like asking the KKK to define Christianity.

The Taliban arose from the ashes of the civil war in Afghanistan, which in turn arose because of the US's proxy war there with the Soviet Union. Yes, it was the CIA that recruited Muslims in the 1980s, persuading them that it was their holy duty to fight Soviets. There hadn't been a jihad anywhere in Muslim lands for a century, but the CIA started one, sending arms, money, and training to groups fighting the Soviets. They trained the trainers of these groups in how to form private terrorist militias. One of these groups, of course, was called al-Qaeda. The Taliban grew up in religious schools that had been transformed into military schools. 

Amazing that our media takes the Taliban's word for what shariah is! And amazing that so many people accept it without question. To explain shariah and why it's important for Americans to understand, I wrote my newest book, Demystifying Shariah. Of course I recommend it! But if you have only two minutes to read a short intro to shariah and what it means, try this essay: Who's Afraid of Shariah?  And pass it along! Knowledge is power.