Saddam's Execution
While I have a great personal distaste for the death penalty, I accept that it is part of Islamic law and therefore just when certain stringent conditions have been met. The execution of Saddam did not meet any of those conditions. The government, such as it is, of Iraq has no authority to execute anyone; it was put into power by foreign occupiers and itself has a history of major human rights abuses, including the operation of sectarian death squads. In addition there was no way for Saddam to get a fair hearing in a country in the middle of a civil war; he had problems enough keeping his lawyers alive. In addition, the Government intervened to dismiss a judge who was deemed to be too lenient on Saddam; there wasn't that seperation of powers that is necessary to protect the integrity of the judiciary. The decision to execute him during 'Eid is unspeakably egregious; 'Eid is traditionally a time of reprieve, not of vengeance. This decision will undoubtedly provoke increased violence and blood shed; even if it were just to execute Saddam, to do it at this point in the history of Iraq is both unwise and immoral. I mean in no way to be an apologist for Saddam, but at this point his actions are between him and Allah (SWT); the actions of those who have executed him do concern me because they are the actions of my own government or of those whom my government has put into power.
posted by Abu Mahmoud @ 12:23 AM
2 Comments:
Consider Khalid Bin Waleed (RA), who committed atrocities against Muslims during his lifetime. The Prophet (SAW) forgave him, and Khalid (RA) went on to become one of the foremost commanders of Islam (in adherence with Islamic regulations on warfare, off course). Eighteen years ago, Saddam putatively committed war time atrocities, most of them during the Iran-Iraq war. Up until the U.S. invasion, he, unlike other Arab leaders, overtly offered comfort to Palestinian widows and orphans, and honored the sacrifices of Palestinian martyrs fighting zionist occupation. Up until his death, he refused, like Al-Qama, to "hand a pen to the oppressor." In other words, he went down fighting. Suppose one applies the popularly quoted "Those who start out in the back row/those who start out in the front row" hadith to this situation?
-N
For me, the important thing is that he died saying the Shahada; I find it hard to believe that someone in his situation would be saying it insincerely and in any case only Allah (SWT) can judge that. He certainly never stopped defying the West and that's a good thing at least.
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