Earlier this month there were a number of marches against sharia law in at least 20 cities organized by the group, ACT for America. They claimed that, “sharia law is incompatible with American Law.” In previous commentaries I have suggested you remember the numbers 1-8-14. Sharia law contradicts the First Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, and the Fourteen Amendment. There are other conflicts between sharia law and American law, but all you need to do it remember the numbers 1-8-14.

ACT for America took a different tact and used verses from the Qur’an to make their case against sharia law. The Bridge Initiative Team rejected these verses and made the claim that these were “cherry-picked and poorly translated verses from the Qur’an and traditional literature.” Is that true?

First, their verses are hardly cherry-picked. Various guests on my radio program (like Robert Spencer, Andrew McCarthy, and Joel Rosenberg) remind us that there are approximately 100 verses of the sword that could be used by Islamists to justify jihad. Don’t take their word for it, take a few minutes to check is out. Get a copy of the Qur’an or go online to read one. Read Sura Eight (the 8th chapter of the Qur’an) and see how many times you read in just the first three dozen verses something that could be used to sanction jihad against infidels.

Second, these are not poorly translated. I have in my possession various translations of the Qur’an and ones that are usually cited as the best English translations. Most of the translations agree when it comes to the many verses of the sword. But don’t take my word for it, check it out. There are various versions of the Qur’an online.

All of these attempts to defend sharia depend in part on your ignorance of the Qur’an. Read a chapter or two for yourself, and you will see what is true.