Photo via assistnews.net

Secret Islamic Sharia Law courts operating in the UK

Twenty-two secret Islamic courts are issuing rulings under strict Sharia law in the West Midlands of the UK, reports Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries.

This has been revealed in a story by Ben Goldby and written for the Birmingham-based Sunday Mercury newspaper (www.sundaymercury.net).

“The courts sit in mosques and community centers, with self-styled Muslim scholars offering judgments – referred to as fatwas – online,” said the story.

“Their rulings include statements condemning homosexuals to harsh beatings and ordering a wife to have sex with her husband ‘even if she is busy in the kitchen’ at the time.”

The story goes on to say that experts from Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society (www.civitas.org.uk), who have compiled a report on Sharia law in the UK, say it is impossible to find out what goes on in the closed courts and fear there could be more of them operating in secret.

“The tribunals usually settle financial or family disputes according to Islamic principals, but judgments published online by self-styled Muslim scholars based in the Midlands have offered illegal advice,” said Goldby’s story.

“These include rulings that men can coerce their wives to have sex with them, that husbands can ban their wives from leaving the marital home, and warnings that Muslims must not join the police.

“Decisions made by religious tribunals are legally binding and can be enforced in county courts and the high court if both parties have agreed to be ruled by Sharia.”

The Sunday Mercury story went on to say that Civitas director Dr. David Green has called for an immediate end to the recognition of Islamic courts by British law.

He said: “The reality is that for many Muslims, Sharia courts are in practice part of an institutionalized atmosphere of intimidation, backed by the ultimate sanction of a death threat.”

Previous research had suggested there were only two Sharia courts in the Midlands – one in Birmingham and one in Warwickshire.

The Sunday Mercury revealed that a Muslim Arbitration Tribunal was operating the UK’s first official Sharia court at Hijaz College Islamic University in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, last year.

Now the shock report by Civitas has revealed the existence of 85 Sharia courts across the country.

More than a quarter of these are based in the Midlands, with eight sitting in Birmingham, while Stoke-on-Trent, Worcester, Burton-on-Trent, Derby, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Leicester also have Sharia tribunals.

Goldby went on to say that Islamic studies expert Denis MacEoin, who compiled the report, said there could be more Muslim tribunals operating without the government’s knowledge.

“Some are relatively small and putting an exact figure on them is difficult,” he told the Sunday Mercury. “There is no transparency. They don’t have to register at all.”

The story said that at the moment Sharia courts are mostly based in local Mosques and community centers, deciding on financial disputes, divorce settlements and custody issues.

But the cases are heard behind closed doors, and women are not given the same legal status as men before the court.

Mr. MacEoin added: “Among the rulings we find some that advise illegal actions and others that transgress human rights standards as applied by British courts.”

These “illegal fatwas” include rulings issued by Leicester Sharia clinic Darul Iftaa.

Harsh edicts passed down by another online Midland Sharia tribunal include banning a young man from working as a taxi driver and telling a Muslim woman not to have IVF treatment.

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TAGS: United Kingdom secret courts Islamic Sharia Law mosque

[07/06/2009]

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