Excerpt:
The recent case of the Muslim men accused of lashing another Muslim in his home is still to be decided by the courts but early reports suggest that Islam was once again hijacked and used as justification for criminal behaviour.
As lawyers and as Muslims, we find it reprehensible when Islamic jurisprudence is appropriated by backyard thugs whose actions show an utter contempt and arrogant disdain for the ethical, moral and reasonable principles that underlie Islamic theology.
The majority of Muslims are fed up with a minority who are content to manufacture ugly interpretations of Islam, which are far removed from the compassionate and just jurisprudential legacy we have inherited. Unfortunately, we live in a society where very few people make a distinction between the teachings of a faith and the myriad interpretations and distortions such teachings can produce.