Peter Baldwin commented on 2020-06-02 04:40
The distinction, David, is that we see no push to introduce ecclesiastical canon law in any of the major Western democracies, whereas in the UK eighty five Sharia Councils are already operating and ad (article 657252-12371)
Link back to commentThe distinction, David, is that we see no push to introduce ecclesiastical canon law in any of the major Western democracies, whereas in the UK eighty five Sharia Councils are already operating and adjudicating on a range of matters, most importantly family law.
And the results of this are not good, when judged against contemporary human rights concepts. According to the think-tank Civitas:
‘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 that derive from the values of the Enlightenment and are inherent in modern codes of human rights. Sharia rulings contain great potential for controversy and may involve acts contrary to UK legal norms and human rights legislation’
… and the big losers from this are Muslim women. The report goes on:
‘Here are some examples: a Muslim woman may not under any circumstances marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts to Islam; such a woman’s children will be separated from her until she marries a Muslim man; polygamous marriage (i.e. two to four wives) is considered legal… a husband has conjugal rights over his wife, and she should normally answer his summons to have sex (but she cannot summon him for the same reason); a woman may not stay with her husband if he leaves Islam; non-Muslims may be deprived of their share in an inheritance… a wife has no property rights in the event of divorce…’
http://civitas.org.uk/press/sharia-courts-should-not-be-recognised-under-the-arbitration-act/
You ask ‘why is there no Sharia Law Party’ scooping up the votes. There is: its called the UK Labour Party that pledged to make Islamophobia an aggravated criminal offense, has taken to holding gender-segregated meetings in parts of the country, and under Corbyn became a rancid swamp of anti-Semitism that alienated virtually the entirety of the British Jewish community.
This is not hypothetical malarkey, as you claim: it is happening as we speak.