Qatari Attorney General Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri on the Justice System in Qatar: "If Fatima, Daughter of the Prophet, Had Stolen, I'd Have Chopped Off Her Hand"

Following are excerpts from an interview with Attorney General of Qatar Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri, which aired on Al-Jazeera Network on February 29, 2012 :

Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri : I believe that we in the Arab world should go back to the basics. We cannot attach our heads to foreign bodies. In the Arab world...

Interviewer : "Back to basics" means the Islamic legal system?

Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri : Yes, it and the reason is simple. Back in the 1950s, when we were invaded by the fever of socialism, we all embraced it, saying that this is the Islamic socialism of Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari. But this was wrong. With the emergence of capitalism in the late 1970s, we all said that this was Islamic [capitalism], and that Othman ibn 'Affan was the first capitalist. We Islamicized capitalism as well. This is not right. We must return to the Islamic basics. We should call a spade a spade. The attorney general and the legal system must be directly subordinate to the ruler, because ultimately, according to the shari'a, the judge draws his authority from the ruler.

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Our Islamic system is more tolerant and clear [than the Western system], and we must follow it.

Interviewer : Do you believe that with the Islamic system, we could surpass even the French and the other Westerners, who are considered a paragon in terms of the independence of their judiciary?

Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri : I am certain of this.

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We should go back to the Islamic legal system of the state of the caliphates.

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Interviewer : People from the Al-Thani family or the Aal Saud family never go to prison. How can there be justice when the ruler's family is excluded?

Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri : There are no exceptions. I don't know who told you that, but it is not true. There are no exceptions whatsoever.

Interviewer : Have you ever sent someone from the Al-Thani family to prison?

Ali bin Fatis Al-Muri : Let me tell you, as soon as we get the file, we cover the name with a sticker and we treat everyone like a regular citizen. My principle in implementing justice in Qatar is that if Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, had stolen, I'd have chopped off her hand.