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Mahmoud Habbash, a senior advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a Friday, October 22, 2021 sermon that aired on Palestine TV that shari'a law is above any international law or national legislation. He criticized Arab and Islamic countries saying some are legalizing trade in alcohol and sex as part of their abiding by international treaties. He also said that at the beginning of the 20th century, colonial powers plotted to keep the Arab and Islamic world underdeveloped, fragmented, and in a constant state of conflict, in order to prevent it from gaining dominance over the collapsing West.
Mahmoud Habbash: "How can we claim to obey Allah while Arab and Islamic countries are passing laws that permit trade in alcohol and even in sex? They say that this is not an issue of legislation, but an issue of human rights, and that there are international treaties. [They say:] 'We signed an international treaty, so we are committed to tearing apart the fabric of the family.'
"No international treaty or local legislation is above shari'a law. Shari'a is above the law, above the constitution, and above international treaties and conventions. Nothing in the world is above shari'a law. Is the Islamic nation implementing this today? Is it obeying Allah in this respect? And not only in this respect, but in many others. A part of the Islamic nation even handed over its reins and its resources to its enemies.
"In 1904, the colonialist countries convened and reviewed their situation. They came to the conclusion that the materialistic Western civilization is on the brink of collapse, and that the region that is about to take its place in leading the world is the region that is south and east of the Mediterranean Sea – the Arab and Islamic region – due to the uniformity of its religion, its history, its language, its natural resources, and its enormous human resources.
"[They said:] 'We must prevent this from happening by keeping this region backward, fragmented, and in a constant state of fighting.' Obviously, this does not apply to us. Obviously... It applies to us and us only! Today this applies only to our region and our nation, I am sad to say."