A few weeks ago, Humza Yousaf was appointed as the First Minister of Scotland. His appointment made news around the world while his position on same sex marriage sparked a debate among Muslims. He is the first person of brown color and of Muslim origin to ever be in charge of Scotland’s First Minister’s office.
Humza Yousaf has been working as an MP in Scotland for over a decade, so he has had a long career in politics. Before becoming the leader of the Scottish National Party, which made him the First Minister, he was asked about his position on same sex marriage, and this is the part which revealed an important truth about Islam and the British Secularism, as well as it sparked a debate among many Muslims.
He was asked, “Do you believe that same sex marriage is a sin?” He answered that he does not, and he added, “I can’t change what’s in the scripture, and I won’t allow the personal faith be the basis of legislation.”
As a candidate for the leader of SNP, Humza Yousaf admits that the scripture of Muslims, meaning, the Qur’an, cannot be changed. This is exactly what makes a big difference between Islam’s justice and the concept of the British Secularism about law and morality.
Islam guarantees sustainable and real justice for people because the Qur’an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cannot be changed. The Islam’s justice is not subject to the interpretation of a leader, who might be a dictator, an imposter, or a charlatan. The constitution of Muslims, if we may call it so, cannot be changed. It is the Qur’an what tells us what’s good and what’s bad, what’s legal and moral, and what’s illegal and immoral; it’s not the next PM, dictator, or monarch. In Islam, leaders and judges cannot impose their personal views on people. In Islam, a leader cannot come up with a new form of marriage for political pragmatic reasons and the next one comes up with another gender, which might be suitable for another political agenda.
On the other hand, the British Secularism is the system that suits dictators and corrupt politicians the best. They don’t have to be loyal to any principles. Whatever serves their personal interests or the interests of a dynasty, that is law. The British Secularism is the system of legal despotism. What could be legal today might become illegal and immoral tomorrow based on personal views of an individual or a small group of people.
The British Secularism resembles the Arabian paganism before the advent of Islam. People used to worship man-made idols, so whenever they didn’t like an idol, they used to replace it with another one. Paganism and the British Secularism are identical. They’re both based on purely subjective and immediate interests of people.
Islam delivers justice, fairness and equality before law while the British Secularism breeds corruption, dictatorship, despotism, and moral inconsistency.
Sabri Lushi
