After being beaten repeatedly by her husband \u2013 who had also threatened to kill her \u2013 Jameela turned to her local Sharia council in a desperate bid for a way out of her marriage. Today she discovers the verdict. Playing nervously with her hands, the young mother-of-three listens as the panel of judges discuss whether they should grant her a divorce.<\/p>\n
The council meets once a month at the Birmingham Central Mosque. Many of the cases relate to divorce and involve the husbands and wives entering the room separately to make their appeals.<\/p>\n
In an airless room in the bowels of the mosque, Jameela is asked to explain why she wants a divorce. She replies that her husband spends most of his time with his second wife \u2013 Islamic law allows men to have up to four wives \u2013 but complains he is abusive whenever he returns to her home.<\/p>\n
Across the desk, Dr Mohammed Naseem, chair of the mosque\u2019s Sharia council, sits alongside Talha Bokhari, a white-robed imam, and Amra Bone, the only woman sitting on an Islamic court in this country.<\/p>\n
While a husband is not required to go through official channels to gain a divorce \u2013 being able to achieve this merely by uttering the word \u201ctalaq\u201d \u2013 Islamic law requires that the wife must persuade the judges to grant her a dissolution.<\/p>\n
Although the judges appear sympathetic, they are concerned about the rights of the father, as Islamic law says he is still responsible for his children\u2019s education. \u201cFor the sake of the children, you must keep up the fa\u00e7ade of cordial relations,\u201d says Dr Naseem. \u201cThe worst thing that can happen to a child is to see the father and mother quarrelling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jameela is one of hundreds of Muslims applying to Islamic courts every week for a ruling on family and financial issues. While these courts may be the cornerstone of many of Britain\u2019s Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, there are growing concerns that they are creating a parallel legal system \u2013 and one that is developing completely unchecked.<\/p>\n
Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester who was born in Pakistan, was accused of scaremongering after he said, in this newspaper three years ago, that parts of the country were being turned into \u201cno-go\u201d areas for non-Muslims. \u201cTo understand the impact of Sharia law you have to look at other countries,\u201d he says. \u201cAt its heart it has basic inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, Islamic extremists put up posters in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham, warning residents that they were entering a \u201cSharia-controlled zone\u201d where Islamic rules were enforced and gambling, alcohol and music was banned. The posters were later removed by police.<\/p>\n
Alan Craig, a former Newham councillor who has lived in the area for 30 years, recalls that last September, staff at a local primary school assured Muslim parents that they would ensure their children observed Ramadan by refusing them food and drink —<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE to read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Should America\u00a0welcome Islamic law? Voters in Oklahoma banned it last year. Other states have considered it. Diversity proponents say we\u00a0should not\u00a0fear — that we should embrace what other cultures bring to us. Across Britain, Muslims now can apply to weekly Islamic “sharia” courts for rulings on family and financial issues. “While these courts may be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55,54],"tags":[261,1350],"class_list":["post-5634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-islam","category-muslim","tag-britain","tag-shariah-law"],"yoast_head":"\n
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