Magda: Hi Jami, we were just wanting to ask you something. How is it with Sharia where you live? Do you all have to follow Islamic law?

Jami: Where I live? You mean, the Czech Republic? There’s no Sharia here as far as I know. And in Iraq, Sharia isn’t the main law that people have to follow. What’s more, there are a lot of Christians and other non-Muslims there, and even a handful of Jews who have been living there for centuries.

Magda: Why is everyone so afraid of Sharia then?

Jami: Well, probably because people think that Sharia is just about stoning women and cutting off the hands of thieves. But Sharia is about the whole life of a Muslim, it’s not just about harsh punishments, like people think. Sharia lets us know what we should and shouldn’t eat, how to pray, and so on. It’s true that several Muslim countries apply punishments according to Sharia - but it depends a lot on who is applying Sharia. Those Taliban long-beards in Afghanistan interpret it according to conditions in the 7th century, when Mohammed was still alive and when there were completely different kinds of problems. To me that seems ridiculous. I think that we’re 21st-century Muslims, and we have to look at some things from today’s perspective. Oh, and, by the way, I was looking at the Bible and the Torah recently - I found some pretty cruel stuff in there...