Do blood money payments, such as in Sharia (Islamic) Law, give hope of openness to restorative justice?
Not at all. In fact, we still are trying to interest imams (Muslim prayer leaders) to visit Muslim prisoners. Australia has one imam who visits Muslim prisoners, but elsewhere almost zero. It is difficult because it is a religious belief in Islam that a person is allowed to suffer and be punished for a crime. According to their beliefs, if you are in prison, you deserve whatever punishment you receive. Their justification for suffering is that it is better to suffer here on earth for crimes than to meet Allah in sin. So easing pain is the least concern for imams. There is a real difference in the concept of punishment in Islam and our Catholic tradition. How much have chaplains and volunteers been able to do for victims? Ideally, we should also care for victims, but very little is being done. We are unable to organize them. It is not like working with prisoners because you have them all together. You will have to gather the victims, but then they will say, “Oh, you work with prisoners,
