British ‘sharia courts’ under scrutiny

AFP, LONDON: For more than 30 years, sharia courts enforcing Islamic law have been operating quietly across Britain. But two official inquiries have put them in the spotlight amid accusations that they discriminate against women.
Very little is known about them, even their number, which one study by the University of Reading puts at 30, while the British think tank Civitas estimates there are 85.
Sharia courts or councils, as they prefer to be called, mainly pronounce on Islamic divorces, which today constitute 90 percent of the cases they handle.
They range from groups of Muslim scholars attached to a mosque, to informal organisations or even a single imam.
But while they are aimed at helping resolve family and sometimes commercial conflicts within the Muslim community, some stand accused of undermining women’s rights.
Campaigners cite instances where courts have refused to grant religious divorces to women who are victims of domestic abuse, and accuse them of legitimising violence, including marital rape.
The government and MPs on parliament’s home affairs committee both opened inquiries this year into whether the councils are actually compatible with British law.
They are looking into the function and possible discriminatory practices of the courts.
The first sharia court appeared in London in 1982 under the government of Margaret Thatcher, who rolled back state intervention in many areas, including mediation in family conflicts, which was delegated to faith groups.
But religious courts have existed for hundreds of years in Britain, whether in the Catholic Church or in the Jewish community—the Beth Din—notes Amin Al-Astewani, lecturer in law at Lancaster University.
As with sharia councils, the decisions of those bodies are not legally binding, but they represent a strong moral and social constraint for those who use them, he wrote in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry.

British sharia courts under scrutiny

AFP, LONDON: For more than 30 years, sharia courts enforcing Islamic law have been operating quietly across Britain. But two official inquiries have put them in the spotlight amid accusations that they discriminate against women. Very little is known about them, even their number, which one study by the University of Reading puts at 30, while the British think tank Civitas estimates there are 85. Sharia courts or councils, as they prefer to be called, mainly pronounce on Islamic divorces, which today constitute 90 percent of the cases they handle. They range from groups of Muslim scholars attached to a mosque, to informal organisations or even a single imam. But while they are aimed at helping resolve family and sometimes commercial conflicts within the Muslim community, some stand accused of undermining womens rights. Campaigners cite instances where courts have refused to grant religious divorces to women who are victims of domestic abuse, and accuse them of legitimising violence, including marital rape. The government and MPs on parliaments home affairs committee both opened inquiries this year into whether the councils are actually compatible with British law. They are looking into the function and possible discriminatory practices of the courts. The first sharia court appeared in London in 1982 under the government of Margaret Thatcher, who rolled back state intervention in many areas, including mediation in family conflicts, which was delegated to faith groups. But religious courts have existed for hundreds of years in Britain, whether in the Catholic Church or in the Jewish communitythe Beth Dinnotes Amin Al-Astewani, lecturer in law at Lancaster University. As with sharia councils, the decisions of those bodies are not legally binding, but they represent a strong moral and social constraint for those who use them, he wrote in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry.