Britain Has 85 Sharia Courts

Would YOU trust them with your wife?

It's even worse than we feared.

At least 85 Islamic sharia courts are operating in Britain, a study claimed yesterday.

The astonishing figure is 17 times higher than previously accepted...

However, they operate behind doors that are closed to independent observers and their decisions are likely to be unfair to women and backed by intimidation, a report by independent think-tank Civitas said.

How have we let it get to this point?

Mr [Denis] MacEoin said: 'Among the rulings we find some that advise illegal actions and others that transgress human rights standards as applied by British courts.'

Examples set out in his study include a ruling that no Muslim woman may marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts to Islam and that any children of a woman who does should be taken from her until she marries a Muslim.

Further rulings, according to the report, approve polygamous marriage and enforce a woman's duty to have sex with her husband on his demand.

All of this is, indeed, part of sharia, and is not disputed by any major school of thought, so all the while sharia courts remain in this country, these are the rulings that will be enforced.

The report added: 'The fact that so many sharia rulings in Britain relate to cases concerning divorce and custody of children is of particular concern, as women are not equal in sharia law, and sharia contains no specific commitment to the best interests of the child that is fundamental to family law in the UK.

'Under sharia, a male child belongs to the father after the age of seven, regardless of circumstances.'

It said: 'Sharia courts operating in Britain may be handing down rulings that are inappropriate to this country because they are linked to elements in Islamic law that are seriously out of step with trends in Western legislation.'

Very true. And I must say, it's excellent to hear someone in the mainstream referring to just sharia and Islamic law - not "extremists" or "a strict form of sharia law". This is sharia, and that must be recognised if we are to assert the superiority of our own values over it.

The sharia courts in the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal are recognised as courts under the Arbitration Act. This law, which covers Jewish Beth Din courts, gives legal powers to a tribunal if all parties involved accept its authority.

The comparison to Jewish Beth Din courts is deceitful because Jewish law is applied in a much more circumscribed manner, and at its height Jewish law only ever applies to Jews. Islamic law, on the other hand, applies to EVERYONE, and there is no easy separation of the parts which deal with "family" law from the parts that involve murdering apostates and other grizzly things. And the record shows that whenever sharia is implemented to any extent anywhere - such as in Swat Valley, Pakistan - this is always followed by calls for more. To allow ANY part of sharia law into Britain is to play into the hands of the significant minority of British Muslims who want ALL of it here, including, for example, Anjem Choudary and his gang of fanatics, as well as the 40% of British Muslims who want to replace the British legal system with sharia.

Jews are well-behaved in comparison.

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: 'Everyone should be deeply concerned about the extent of these courts.

'They do entrench division in society, and do nothing to entrench integration or community cohesion. It leads to a segregated society.

'There should be one law, and that should be British law. We can't have a situation where people can choose which system of law they follow and which they do not.

'We can't have a situation where people choose the system of law which they feel gives them the best outcome. Everyone should equal under one law.'

I'm glad you think so, Mr. Davies.

But here comes the whining:

The Muslim Council in Britain condemned the study for ' stirring up hatred'.

A Muslim's favourite word: "hatred". Often it applies to an imaginary "Islamophobia" displayed on the part of infidels. But just as often it applies to Muslim attitudes towards those same infidels.

A spokesman said: 'Sharia councils are perfectly legitimate. There is no evidence they are intimidating or discriminatory against women. The system is purely voluntary so if people don't like it they can go elsewhere.'

I am sure the evidence to the contrary will be forthcoming.