The Pakistani chief minister of North West Frontier Province, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, announced on Feb. 16 that the Pakistani government has made an agreement with the Pakistani Taliban to allow them to implement sharia’ law in the Malakand Division.Sharia’ law is an Islamic code of law based on the Quran and the sunnah, which is a collection of recorded manners and sayings of the prophet Mohammad.

This agreement between the militant commander Maulana Fazlullah and local administrators allows the Taliban to legally preside over the area, which includes the Swat valley.

“This was the people’s demand. There was a (legal) vacuum,” said Hoti to BBC reporters.

He added that this change does not violate the constitution.

According to the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), this agreement is “a concession aimed at pacifying a spreading Taliban insurgency.”

“Even though the Pakistani government officially gave the Taliban control of this area, they already had control of it for at least the past month,” said Assistant Professor of Religion Parveen Hasanali, who teaches a course on Islam. “The Pakistani government gave in because they were losing. This agreement is attempting to stall the killing of people. It is a short-term political decision.”

According to a BBC news report, “around 1,200 people have been killed and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled Swat in 18 months of fierce fighting over the beautiful valley.”

The BBC and the IINA both report that the Pakistani government surrendered to the Taliban’s demand for control of the area after they had gained control of the Swat Valley through violent and unjust devices including beheadings and burning girls’ schools.

“The Taliban use violence and terrorism to coerce anyone who objects to their interpretation of sharia’ to surrender to them,” said Assistant Professor of Political Science Robert Duncan. “What happened in Pakistan is very scary and sad. It has proven that violence and intimidation work.”

According to the IINA, “(Taliban) officials gave few details on the what kind of Islamic or sharia law they were planning to implement in Malakand region. but said laws that do not comply with Islamic texts had been suspended effective from Monday.”

Sophomore and practicing Muslim Manar Hmeidan said that those who are not adequately educated about Islam do not realize that the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam represents a very small minority of Muslims.

“In the Western world, there are lots of negative associations with sharia’ law, especially after 9/11, because many have misinformed views and see it as synonymous with terrorism,” said Hmeidan. “These stereotypes are reinforced by the mainstream media, which groups Islam under this limited.”

Duncan said that people need to realize that sharia’ law is not the problem.

“During the time of the prophet Mohammad, sharia’ law was very tolerant of people of other faiths and allowed them to practice,” said Duncan. “It’s the Taliban’s fundamentalist, Wahabi, and highly conservative interpretation of it that is a problem.”

Hasanali said that the new Taliban-controlled government will operate based on an interpretation of sharia’ “by a very small group of fundamentalists, without the legitimization of the religious leaders of the country.”

Guilford alum and Health and Wellness Coordinator Mohammad Khalaf, a practicing Muslim, said that because some countries such as Pakistan have secular governments, the Taliban does not recognize them as valid.

“Many Muslim countries don’t follow sharia’ and they have a separation of church and state in many aspects,” said Khalaf. “For example, in Palestine we follow sharia’ in civil law but not in criminal law.”

Khalaf said that some fundamentalist Muslims like the Taliban sometimes consider other Muslims infidels because they don’t practice their own interpretation of Islam.

These groups such as the Sunnis, Shiites and the Ismaelis inhabit the Makaland and each has a different interpretation of religious law. Hasanali said that they are upset that none of the religious leaders of their groups have been consulted.

“The Taliban is very anti-minority,” said Hasanali. “I cannot believe that the government will put these people at risk by allowing the Taliban to spread their very strict, exclusive interpretation of sharia’.”

Khalaf said that the Taliban forcing people to practice as strictly or in the same way is against Islam.

“In Islam it is wrong to call anybody else who claims to be Muslim an infidel even if they don’t practice as strictly as others,” said Khalaf. “God is the only one who can judge one’s true faith. Islam says that there is no compulsion in religion, and this is one of the major themes in our religion.”

Duncan said it is unfortunate that small groups like the Taliban and the conservative Wahabis in Saudi Arabia have money and therefore are able to spread their own fundamentalist brand of Islam.

“The large majority of Muslims are moderate and do not practice the limited, conservative and Wahabist brand of Islam,” said Duncan, “but they are getting taken into the woodshed by the conservatives, so people don’t realize that there is a whole spectrum of ideological beliefs in Islam, and they assume that all Muslims are radical, which is not right. Until the moderates regain control, the fundamentalist brand of Islam will continue to spread.