Has UK become the 'Western capital' of Sharia courts?

Has Britain become the western capital for the Sharia courts?

According to a new report, there are dozens of such courts operating in the UK.

Responding to the report, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has said that such institutions should not exist in the UK.

But what has the report revealed? And what has been the reaction?

Let’s take a closer look

The UK legal system and Sharia law

First, let’s take a brief look at the legal system in the UK and Sharia law.

According to Middle East Eye, the UK has three legal systems – a combined legal system based on common law in England and Wales, an independent legal system in Scotland and an independent legal system in Northern Ireland.

Sharia, thus, is not the law of the land anywhere in the UK.

According to CFR.org, Sharia means “the correct path” in Arabic.

Sharia law is derived from two main sources – the Quran and the hadith.

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Muslims consider the Quran the direct word of god.

The hadith, on the other hand, comprises thousands of sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Mohammed.

Around half of the world’s Muslim-majority countries have laws based on the Sharia.

Most Muslims follow Sharia law in their personal lives.

India Today quoted theologian and professor Mona Siddiqui as saying that Sharia is based on the opinions of Islamic scholars from the time of Prophet Mohammed in the 7th Century to the 13th Century.

What do we know about these courts?

As per The Times, the first Sharia court in the UK began functioning in 1982.

Today, there are 85 such courts spread across Britain.

These courts, also known as councils, are informal bodies. They deliver religious verdicts on marriage and family life.

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The authorities say around 100,000 marriages have occurred in Britain many of which are not registered with authorities.

The report also revealed that as such courts, men can end their marriages by pronouncing ‘talaq’ thrice.

It also stated that polygamy has become so routine that there is an app for Muslims in England and Wales allowing them to create Islamic wills.

The app, approved by a Sharia court, has a dropdown menu which allows men to choose the number of wives they have – between 1 and 4.

As per The Telegraph, the app known as Muzz also allows men to chart a “polygamy plan.”

Polygamy, of course, is not legal under UK law. Anyone engaging in the practice is guilty of bigamy.

The app also gives daughters half as much inheritance as it does sons.

Further, the verdict of one of the Sharia councils was lent credence after the UK High Court relied on it to issue a ruling.

The Islamic Council founded by hardline preacher Haitham al-Haddad hears 900 cases a year.

As per India Today, al-Haddad once said, “A man should not be questioned why he hit his wife because this is something between them. Leave them alone. They can sort out their matters among themselves."

The council’s full name is the Islamic Sharia Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Registered as a charity, it is based in east London’s Leyton.

It is thought to provide marriage and divorce services.

One woman also told The Times she was told to get into a nikah mut’ah – also known as a “pleasure marriage.”

As per India Today, this is a temporary union that lasts pre-determined length of time.

At the end of the period, the marriage dissolves and the man pays the woman an amount that has been agreed upon.

As per The Times, it has recently begun taking up cases from Germany and North America.

The council in a ruling barred a health trust from letting a brain-damaged child die.

Activists have complained that the UK High Court relying on a fatwa to come to a ruling ‘undermines faith in liberal democracy.’

But according to Middle East Eye, these courts first sprung up to help Muslim women who wanted to obtain a divorce get one.

They give religious advice on inheritance, wills and other aspects of Islamic personal law.

These courts are unofficial bodies and thus have no legal standing or power to enforce their decisions.

They work mainly as advisory bodies.

What do experts say?

Rakib Ehsan, writing in The Telegraph, has called for religious groups’ charitable status to be rescinded if they are found guilty of violating UK law.

“Any possibility of migrants in the UK arriving to be a second, third, or fourth wife, should be clamped down on as part of a wider effort to introduce a more restrictive immigration regime. And alongside the nikah, it should be mandatory for all Muslim couples to marry into legally recognised partnerships, which provide much-needed protections, security, and support,” Ehsan wrote.

Ehsan added that such courts must acknowledge that the law of the land is supreme and if they do not, the state must act.

“Britain’s considerable religious freedoms must not be exploited,” Ehsan added.

The National Secular Society has raised  concerns that the UK is home to a parallel legal system.

India Today quoted its chief executive Stephen Evans as saying such Sharia courts “undermine the principle of one law for all.

“It should be remembered that Sharia councils only exist because Muslim women need them to obtain a religious divorce. Muslim men do not need them because they can unilaterally divorce their wife,” Evans added.

A government spokesperson told The Times, “Sharia law does not form any part of the law in England and Wales. And it is absolutely right that couples should marry into legally recognised marriages because that provides them with protections, security and support which they should have in the United Kingdom.

“Our manifesto set out that we will strengthen these rights for couples who live together but are not married.”

But shadow justice minister Jenrick has taken a different tone.

Jenrick wrote on social media, “None of these courts should exist.”

“There’s only one law in this country and it is British law.”

So has Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, who has called for a debate on the subject.

MSN quoted Tice, speaking in parliament during questions to the Leader of the House of Commons, as saying,: “As the deputy leader of Reform UK, I was, I think, along with millions of other British citizens, shocked to read the expose in The Times newspaper that Britain has become the western capital for the use of sharia courts.

“I think that I’d like to ask the leader if we could have a debate on this issue in the new year, because, in my view, the use of sharia courts to make unofficial rulings about marriages, divorces and family life have no place in the United Kingdom.”

Lucy Powell, Leader of the House of Commons, hit back at Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage.

“Of course, I’m sure his leader is somewhere else far more important, either in the studios or abroad or somewhere else getting an airing, but I hear what he has to say. I’m sure we would all agree that the courts in this country that are recognized are the UK, and British and English courts, and that’s absolutely right.”

A spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain, told Middle East Eye Jenrick’s remarks “reveal a concerning pattern of inflammatory rhetoric that surfaces every few years to whip up antagonism against British Muslims”.

“These are voluntary arbitration forums operating entirely within British law - just like Jewish beth din courts, which Mr Jenrick conspicuously fails to mention.”

Will the Labour government take action against these Sharia courts?

That remains to be seen.

With inputs from agencies