Sudan’s president said the country would adopt an Islamic constitution if the south split away in a referendum due next month, in a speech on Sunday in which he also defended police filmed flogging a woman.

“If south Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity,” President Omar Hassan al-Bashir told supporters at a rally in the eastern city of Gedaref.

“Sharia (Islamic law) and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language,” he said.

An official from south Sudan’s main party criticized Bashir’s stance, saying it would encourage discrimination against minorities in the mainly Muslim north and deepen the country’s international isolation.   »»» Reuters

Real, authentic shari’ah law is not compatible with a system under which, as Bashir says, “…there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity.” Shari’a gives non-Muslims a protected status in the Muslim state. This is very clear from the undisputed words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

“If anyone hurts a protected person (dhimmi), I will be his advocate and for everyone who has me as his advocate, I will seek justice on the Day of Resurrection.”

He also said:

“One who hurts a protected person hurts me, and one who hurts me hurts Allah.”

Some modern Muslim jurists, including Ibn Abdin have argued that since Muslims must protect the life, property and honor non-Muslims in a Muslim state and since the persecution of the weak by the strong is considered to be among the greatest crimes, the persecution of non-Mulsims by Muslims is a greater crime than the persecution of Muslims by non-Muslims.

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