A propos of Andy’s “Death to Apostates: Not a Perversion of Islam, but Islam,” readers may want to look at my NRO piece “‘Taliban Lite’: Afghanistan fast forwards,” written when the Afghan constitution was being drafted, which made similar points:
While the draft outlaws discrimination on the basis of religion and sex, and professes adherence to international human rights standards, these provisions are subject to the stipulation that they cannot be contrary to an undefined “sacred religion of Islam….” The constitution does not say what the principles of Islam are. They will be defined at some later point by Islamic judges. But, whatever they are, they will be the law of the land and “ignorance about the provisions of laws” (56) will be no defense against them.