Sharia courts rule on sex lives in Britain
simple.lan...@gmail.com
Unofficial Sharia courts are governing people's sex lives in Britain.
Ten currently operate across the country, with around 95 per cent of
their cases relating to matrimonial issues.
Although the hearings have no basis in British law, they are attended
voluntarily by Muslim couples to settle disputes without referral to
the recognised authorities.
In some cases they can order wives to be more attentive to their
husbands' needs, or deal with releasing spouses from bad or forced
marriages.
The first Muslim court was established in Birmingham in 1982 and
others have followed in London and the Yorkshire towns of Rotherham
and Dewsbury.
Although most of those who attend are from the Indian sub-continent,
Sharia courts are also popular among those from Arab and Somalian
backgrounds.
Sharia is based on the religious rulings in the Koran, of later judges
and on the acts of the Prophet Mohammed.
It encompasses not just enforceable law but moral law too.
Earlier this year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams,
came under fierce attack from the Government and his own church for
advocating the adoption of parts of Sharia Law in Britain.
"It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of
Sharia are already recognised in our society," he said.