SHARIAsource Australia Editor Joshua Roose recently co-authored an article in The Sociological Review discussing how public perceptions of Islamic law have impacted the debate over Muslim immigration and multiculturalism in Australia.
“The Limits of Multiculturalism in Australia? The Shari’a Flogging Case of R v. Raad, Fayed, Cifci and Coskun”
This article examines a criminal case in Australia in which four Muslim men whipped a Muslim convert to punish him for his excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol. During their trial, the men claimed they were following Islamic traditions to ‘purify’ or absolve the victim of his sins. Mainstream media and political narratives viewed the whipping as an example of the moral dangers of accommodating sharīʿa norms, eliding the differences between peaceable sharīʿa and its violent extremities, while situating the case at the limits of multicultural accommodation.