Sunday, July 19, 2009

40 lashes for man convicted of drinking in public

Who says Islam isn't a compassionate and modern religion?

This story illustrates Islam's compassion by the court's insisting that a man convicted of being drunk is found medically fit before he is flogged with 40 lashes. Morocco, what a wonderful place to live.


FROM GULFTIMES.COM:

40 lashes for man convicted of drinking in public


An Arab engineer, who has been convicted of drunkenness in a public place, has been sentenced to 40 lashes by a Doha court. The judge dismissed his claim that he could not differentiate between water and wine (writes Nour Abuzant).
The Moroccan Muslim told the court that he got intoxicated after he went for dinner with his French colleagues and they offered him a drink that he thought was water.

He was arrested when the car, carrying him and his French colleagues, met with an accident. The traffic police noticed that he was vomiting and there was a stench of alcohol in the atmosphere. He was taken to the Rayyan police in an unconscious state.

His lawyer argued that his client was not aware that the drink contained alcohol.
Explaining the conviction, Judge Mamon Hamour said that it was hard to imagine that someone like the accused could be tricked to the extent that he could not differentiate between water and wine.

“The accused is an engineer and not a new Muslim. Surely he knows that wine is prohibited according to Islam.”

The court of first instance said that the accused be lashed only after proving that he was medically fit