Sharia Law in UK
Islamic Law has come to England
Islamic Law has come to England
Charl
de Souza
August
13th 2011
In several London boroughs shocked
passers-by can read posters attached to lampposts informing them they are
entering a “Sharia Zone” where Islamic rules are enforced. The “No porn - No Prostitution” might sound like a good idea
and help make these areas family friendly, but Sharia does not stop there.
There are serious concerns, particularly from women’s groups, who are worried
the Sharia courts’ decisions may be respected more in some communities than the
British courts are, especially in the case of domestic abuse and divorce
settlements for women.
In 2009 the think-tank Civitas The Institute for the Study of Civil Society
estimated that here were eighty-five Sharia Islamic courts in Britain.
The acceptance of Sharia law in the
UK has happened quietly with the general public unaware of the change happening
in front of their eyes. It is this quiet acceptance of Sharia law that has led
to the vigilante attitude of imposing “Sharia Zones” unilaterally on
communities by Islamic groups.
Sharia Laws in Britain by Stealth:
Islamic law has actually been
adopted in Britain officially. Sharia courts have been given powers by the
Government to rule on Muslim civil cases. These cases include domestic
violence, divorce and financial disputes. Five
Sharia courts in the UK are backed by the British judicial system through the
High Court. In the past British Sharia court rulings could only be enforced through
voluntary acceptance among Muslims. These five courts are in London,
Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Nuneaton. Glasgow and Edinburgh are next
in line.
Using a clause in the Arbitration
Act of 1996, these courts have been set up by the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal,
which runs the courts. Under the Arbitration Act, the Sharia law courts are
classified as arbitration tribunals. The of arbitration tribunals’ judgments
are binding in law, provided that both parties agree to give it the power to
rule on their case.
There have been concerns that the
secretive system has excessive influence, especially in cases of domestic abuse, divorce issues and intimidating
communities. The arbitrary and unilateral imposition of “Sharia Zones”
shows that these fears are justified. Women especially have been terrorised by
Sharia vigilantes.
These “Sharia Zones” ban a wide
range of things that can be considered bad or at least negative, like drugs,
prostitution, gambling, porn, alcohol and smoking, to the innocuous like music
and concerts. As a result the Ministry of
Justice launched an inquiry into the British Sharia courts. This inquiry was
difficult to conduct as Muslim leaders refused to cooperate and closed ranks
making the Sharia law courts appear secretive or even subversive. Not only is it bizarre having these Islamic Sharia courts in
England imposing their will on communities being backed by the UK High Court,
but also, and this makes this Islamic law issue dangerously weird, when the
Government backed down. Scrapping the inquiry because Muslim courts refused to
co-operate, sends a message to Islamic radicals that they are in control.
The Justice Minister’s abandonment
of the Government’s inquiry into these secretive Sharia councils has raised
fears that such radicals and extremist organisations like Islam4UK, will be
able to continue intimidating their communities unchecked. It was not a
coincidence that Islamic extremists launched their campaign to announce “Sharia
controlled zones” across Britain the same week the Ministry of Justice scrapped
the inquiry into the increasing influence of Sharia courts.
In Parliament, the Justice Minister
Jonathan Djanogly said that before last year’s general election his department
acted to “commission an exploratory study of Sharia councils in England with
respect to family law.” Mr Djanogly
continued, “This identified a number of challenges to undertaking robust
research in this area. The study was therefore limited and adds little to the
evidence base. “The findings cannot be
regarded as a representative assessment of the operation of Sharia councils. Following
expert peer review of the draft report, the Ministry of Justice decided not to
publish the findings.” The “challenges” the commission
experienced was simply the Sharia courts refusing to co-operate.
Jewish Beth Din courts have
long been operational in the UK for more than a hundred years, but the Jewish
community do not try to impose their culture on the society as a whole. This is
where the danger of the Sharia courts concern citizens, both non-Muslim and
Muslim.
There is already a trend of subtle
and in some cases even blatant intimidation and coercion that is imposed on
individuals and their families. This is the real concern, especially the fact
that women and girls have less value as human beings and as witnesses than men.
Uneducated men who want to exert their dominance over women use these Sharia
courts to legitimise domestic abuse.
Many Muslim women are trapped by
their culture in abusive marriages, which teach their children, by example,
that this behavior is normal, and so repeating this abusive attitude in the next
generation. While Sharia does give some Muslim women a chance to escape from an
abusive marriage; it does not give them equal status to the abusive man. The
women are considered inferior to men as witnesses. Nor do they have equal
status in divorce and custody of the children, and the courts do not deal with
the husband’s abuse.
http://www.abacusnews.com/faith/1001-sharia-law-uk.php
