Sharia Law In The UK (Part 2)

Although the suffering of the victims of sharia in the Muslim world is an obvious and egregious human rights violation, many in the West find it difficult to connect with the issue, because it often plays out in distant lands, with only a fraction of the distressing incidents that take place being reported by the mainstream media.

But as immigration from Muslim countries continues to increase due to the "refugee" crisis, we should not be surprised if these tales from distant lands begin to become a reality in the West also. Many in the West scoff at the notion of sharia coming to Europe or America, believing that the idea is just too far-fetched to take seriously. However, this wilfully ignores a raft of alarming evidence suggesting that sharia is already here – and not just in the shape of formal sharia courts, either.

Below are a few sobering recent examples from modern Britain, demonstrating the influence of sharia here, and the negative implications of such influence.

- A variety of polling data collected over the last decade demonstrates support for all aspects of sharia among a significant percentage of British Muslims: A 2006 survey reported that as many as 40% would like to see the British legal system replaced with sharia; a detailed study by the Policy Exchange think tank in 2007 found, among other things, that around half of the Muslims surveyed support polygamy, roughly 40% support the execution of those who leave Islam, and 39% believe that sharia should not be reformed in order to conform to British law or modern human rights standards;  and a 2010 cable from the US Embassy in London revealed that in a study of 600 Muslim students in 30 British universities, not only did 40% support sharia, but one third of them also believed that killing in the name of religion was justified. A quarter of British Muslims also believe that killing someone for insulting Islam can be justified.

- A 2010 BBC Panorama investigation identified a network of more than forty Muslim weekend schools teaching around five thousand children, from age six to eighteen, that promote violent sharia punishments. The investigation identified a book for 15-year-olds being used in the classes which says: “For thieves their hands will be cut off for a first offence, and their foot for a subsequent offence.” There are diagrams showing children where cuts must be made. One passage says: “The specified punishment of the thief is cutting off his right hand at the wrist. Then it is cauterised to prevent him from bleeding to death.” For acts of “sodomy”, children are told that the penalty is death and it states a difference of opinion whether this should be done by stoning, or burning with fire, or throwing over a cliff.

- A 2010 Mail on Sunday investigation revealed that numerous high-profile schools, hospitals, pubs and famous sporting venues around the country are serving up meat slaughtered in accordance with sharia to unwitting members of the public, without informing them. Despite the fact that Islamic halal slaughter is an unethical and inhumane process which causes unnecessary suffering to animals by slitting their throats and drowning them in their own blood while they are still conscious,  many British institutions only serve meat slaughtered in this barbaric way.  Since the 2010 revelations, the creep of halal meat into non-Muslim establishments has only been confirmed, with Subway, Pizza Express, the Ministry of Defence, and many of Britain’s top universities all forcing non-Muslims to either eat halal or nothing.

- In 2014, Paul Weston, the leader of the tiny Liberty GB political party, was arrested while campaigning for the European elections in Winchester, for simply quoting Winston Churchill’s criticism of Islam through a megaphone. Although charges of inciting hatred were eventually dropped, the very fact that he was arrested at all amounts to a partial application of sharia blasphemy law by UK police. Other instances of adherence to the Islamic prohibition on criticising or disrespecting Islam - an indispensable part of any free society - include arrests for burning the Qur'an, and jail sentences for "attacking" a mosque...with bacon.

- Sharia-compliant student loans, pensions and wills have also been implemented or seriously proposed in recent years, effectively enshrining aspects of Islamic law as a parallel legal system in this country, segregating rather than integrating British Muslims and promoting division and inequality.

From the above, we can see that the fear among some observers that sharia law is creeping further and further in British public life is not a hysterical fantasy, and nor is it exaggerated. It is time for us to say, "Enough is enough", and demand that the Muslims who have fled from Islamic countries to enjoy greater freedom in Britain refrain from bringing with them a system of theocratic governance that is specifically designed to crush that freedom in every way imaginable.