--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My background is such that I am uneasy…" description: "\"My background is such that I am uneasy about religious laws, I think there's always a real danger when you start appealing to a higher authority. It's ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/sadakat-kadri-20613_authority_my-background-is-such-that-i-am-uneasy-a_2236233.jpg" --- # My background is such that I am uneasy about religious… ![“My background is such that I am uneasy about religious laws, I think there's always a real danger when you start appealing to a higher authority. It's self-righteousness, it's not righteousness, it's self-righteousness that takes control. But I think that it's absolutely crucial that that's not…” quote by Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/sadakat-kadri-20613_authority_my-background-is-such-that-i-am-uneasy-a_2236233.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/sadakat-kadri-20613_authority_my-background-is-such-that-i-am-uneasy-a_2236233.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d2e/sadakat-kadri-20613_authority_my-background-is-such-that-i-am-uneasy-a_2236233.jpg) > “My background is such that I am uneasy about religious laws, I think there's always a real danger when you start appealing to a higher authority. It's self-righteousness, it's not righteousness, it's self-righteousness that takes control. But I think that it's absolutely crucial that that's not confused with the debate that takes place over Shari'a law in Great Britain at the moment. Because as far as anybody is concerned, when you talk about Shari'a courts now you're talking about - I don't know what people think.” [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Appealing to higher authority can become self‑righteous, obscuring genuine debate over Shari'a law in Britain. **In simple terms:** Beware of using authority to silence real discussion. Key Takeaway Distinguish authority from genuine discourse. Themes law religion public debate Mood cautious reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - parliamentary sessions - community forums - legal reforms Key Concepts self‑righteousness authority Shari'a law Questions to Reflect On - How can we discuss religious law without self‑righteousness? - What safeguards protect open debate? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on authority can stifle diverse viewpoints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Concerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerned/) [Confused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confused/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Higher Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher-authority-873687/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-laws-4954025/) [Righteousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteousness/) [Shari Courts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shari-courts-5050979/) [Shari Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shari-law-5050978/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Uneasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uneasy/) [Uneasy Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uneasy-religious-5050977/) ## Related quotes > [Whereas a man is entitled to marry three more times and that fosters great abuse, even scholars accept that. So certainly since the 1980s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/whereas-a-man-is-entitled-to-marry-three-more-times-and-that-fosters/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [“By increasing the amount of Torah (obligatory religious laws) in the world, they were extending His presence in the world and making it more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/by-increasing-the-amount-of-torah-obligatory-religious-laws-in-the/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“When his culture considered women irrational and the private property of men, Jesus educated women and counted them among his closest friends.c When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-fincher/when-his-culture-considered-women-irrational-and-the-private-property/) [Dale Fincher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-fincher/) > [If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/if-i-lived-in-a-communist-country-today-where-certain-principles-dear/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would be violated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-basil/it-is-right-to-submit-to-a-higher-authority-whenever-a-command-of-god/) [Saint Basil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-basil/) > [“The secular progressive movement in America has been successful in removing all vestiges of faith in God from the public square. The very fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-carson/the-secular-progressive-movement-in-america-has-been-successful-in/) [Ben Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-carson/) > [“There is no higher authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-t-davies-2/there-is-no-higher-authority/) [Russell T. Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-t-davies-2/) > [“The oldest rule in the book is that you can delegate authority, but never responsibility—not even to higher authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-anderson/the-oldest-rule-in-the-book-is-that-you-can-delegate-authority-but/) [Taylor Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-anderson/) > [That science has long been neglected and declining in England, is not an opinion originating with me, but is shared by many, and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/that-science-has-long-been-neglected-and-declining-in-england-is-not/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [“And the Vatican, whatever anyone else might have thought on the subject, answered, like Hebrew National hot dogs, to "a higher authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-the-vatican-whatever-anyone-else-might-have-thought-on-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My speculation is that the U.S. does not want to establish the principle that it has to defer to some higher authority before carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/my-speculation-is-that-the-u-s-does-not-want-to-establish-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“I agree--the world isn't a nursery. But the very fact that this world is so challenging is exactly why you sometimes must reach out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-agree-the-world-isn-t-a-nursery-but-the-very-fact-that-this-world/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [In other words, the Church acknowledges Science as the higher authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-ostwald/in-other-words-the-church-acknowledges-science-as-the-higher-authority/) [Wilhelm Ostwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-ostwald/) > [Historically, America has answered to a higher authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-greenwood/historically-america-has-answered-to-a-higher-authority/) [Lee Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-greenwood/) > [But the very fact that this world is so challenging is exactly why you sometimes must reach out of its jurisdiction for help, appealing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/but-the-very-fact-that-this-world-is-so-challenging-is-exactly-why/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) ## More by Sadakat Kadri > [There's crucial distinction that has to be drawn between the Shari'a, which is this hugely expansive vision of cosmic order that I've been describing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/there-s-crucial-distinction-that-has-to-be-drawn-between-the-shari-a/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [I realized that the ignorance was profound. I don't mean that in a pejorative sense, it's just that people didn't know what the Shari'a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/i-realized-that-the-ignorance-was-profound-i-don-t-mean-that-in-a/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [The Shari'a itself - this is possibly a kind of verbal debate - is understood to be something different from the Fiqh, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/the-shari-a-itself-this-is-possibly-a-kind-of-verbal-debate-is/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [My father's from Pakistan and he has been a secularist all his life. In the Pakistani context, there's no messing with religion. There's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/my-father-s-from-pakistan-and-he-has-been-a-secularist-all-his-life/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [I work in the human rights field and there are serious conflicts between certain interpretations of Islamic law and human rights. That's something which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/i-work-in-the-human-rights-field-and-there-are-serious-conflicts/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [One of the big problems in this field is that there's so much mystification that surrounds talk of the Shari'a, whether its saying that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/one-of-the-big-problems-in-this-field-is-that-there-s-so-much/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [I was a teenager when General Zia took power in the Pakistan; I was in my twenties when I went there during the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/i-was-a-teenager-when-general-zia-took-power-in-the-pakistan-i-was-in/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [People are coupling and decoupling all the time in Great Britain. The fact that Muslims choose to precede it with a certain formula of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/people-are-coupling-and-decoupling-all-the-time-in-great-britain-the/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [I think it's important to understand Shari'a to be rooted in history - what we know about the history and what we don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/i-think-it-s-important-to-understand-shari-a-to-be-rooted-in-history/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [There's a feminist critique of Muslim Arbitration Tribunals, which I'm certainly not unsympathetic to, because as I keep saying, I come from a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/there-s-a-feminist-critique-of-muslim-arbitration-tribunals-which-i-m/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [I didn't quite know whether I was writing for the non-Muslim or the Muslim, and at the end of the day I'm writing, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/i-didn-t-quite-know-whether-i-was-writing-for-the-non-muslim-or-the/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [In 1979, you had the revolution in Iran. You had the Hudood Ordinances in Pakistan, which are the laws that are notoriously used against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/in-1979-you-had-the-revolution-in-iran-you-had-the-hudood-ordinances/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa to that effect, which was then given effect in the Islamic Republic of Iran, so in the Islamic Republic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/ayatollah-khomeini-issued-a-fatwa-to-that-effect-which-was-then-given/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [Whereas a man is entitled to marry three more times and that fosters great abuse, even scholars accept that. So certainly since the 1980s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/whereas-a-man-is-entitled-to-marry-three-more-times-and-that-fosters/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) > [The politicized version of Shia Islam that we see in the Islamic Republic post-1979 clearly is very conservative, but, there are other things one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadakat-kadri/the-politicized-version-of-shia-islam-that-we-see-in-the-islamic/) [Sadakat Kadri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) [Explore all 30 Sadakat Kadri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadakat-kadri/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. 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Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) [Browse all 4,003 Authority quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My background is such that I am uneasy about religious laws, I think there's always a real danger when you start appealing to a higher authority. It's self-righteousness, it's not righteousness, it's self-righteousness that takes control. But I think that it's absolutely crucial that that's not confused with the debate that takes place over Shari'a law in Great Britain at the moment. 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