Mathias Rohe: Sharia Law and Basic Law
A conference organized by the Frankfurt Research Center on Global Islam (FFGI) on May 05 has examined possible areas of conflict between Sharia Law and German Basic Law. Mathias Rohe, lawyer, Islamic scholar and director of EZIRE, was invited. In an interview with the broadcasting station Deutsche Welle, Mathias Rohe once more outlines his positions on the topic.
Rohe makes clear that the term Sharia could be interpreted quite variously: “With Sharia Law, you can either trample around human rights or you can justify human rights.” German Law enabled certain leeways for Islamic jurisprudence, e. g. in the area of family law. However, these leeways were limited: exclusively religious marriages or divorces were not recognized in Germany. In cases of dispute, professional mediation as well as the willingness of the parties to accept arbitral awards, was absolutely necessary. Mathias Rohe also takes a firm stand on Islamists from the Salafi spectrum, if they resisted German Law with reference to the “Word of God”: Such action was a “frontal attack on the German State of Law”.