Ukip to Campaign to Ban Burqa and Sharia Courts, Says Paul Nuttall

THE GUARDIAN: Party leader tells Andrew Marr the security situation means ‘you need to see people’s faces’ and that it ‘is all about integration’

Ukip will push to ban the burqa and sharia courts, Paul Nuttall has said, though he denied the Eurosceptic party was reinventing itself as an anti-Islam party.

In a BBC interview, Ukip’s leader also refused to confirm whether he would stand in the 8 June election, having been defeated in the Stoke-on-Trent Central byelection weeks ago.

Nuttall said the party’s policies were not singling out Muslims. He said there were no similar proposals to ban Jewish religious courts because the Jewish population was smaller than the Muslim population.

Nuttall had previously said in 2013 the party should not pursue a burqa ban, but he told the Andrew Marr Show that circumstances had changed. » | Jessica Elgot, Political Reporter | Sunday, April 23, 2017

Britain Must Ban Sharia "Kangaroo Courts", Say Activists

DAILY MAIL: LONDON, June 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's new government must abolish Islamic sharia courts, campaigners said on Monday, describing them as "kangaroo courts" that deliver second-rate justice and trample over the rights of women and children.

They called for the government to stick to pre-election promises to hold an inquiry into sharia courts which first appeared in Britain in the mid-1980s.

"Over the years, we have witnessed with increasing alarm the influence of 'Sharia courts' over the lives of citizens of Muslim heritage," nearly 200 women's rights and secular campaigners said in a statement.

"Though the 'Sharia courts' have been touted as people's right to religion, they are in fact, effective tools of the far-right Islamist movement whose main aim is to restrict and deny rights, particularly those of women and children." » | Emma Batha | Reuters | Monday, June 15, 2015

UK: Sharia Courts Abusing Muslim Women

BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS: The report shows how the increasing influence of Sharia law in Britain today is undermining the fundamental principle that there must be equality for all British citizens under a single law of the land.

“I feel betrayed by Britain. I came here to get away from this and the situation is worse here than in the country I escaped from.” — Muslim woman interviewed for the report.

The report concludes by calling on the British government to launch a judge-led inquiry to “determine the extent to which discriminatory Sharia law principles are being applied within the UK.”

“The government’s response will be a litmus test of the extent to which it genuinely upholds the principle of equality before the law or is so dominated by the fear of ‘giving offense’ that it will continue to allow these women to suffer in ways which would make our suffragettes turn in their graves.” — Baroness Caroline Cox.

Muslim women across Britain are being systematically oppressed, abused and discriminated against by Sharia law courts that treat women as second-class citizens, according to a new report, which warns against the spiraling proliferation of Islamic tribunals in the United Kingdom.

The 40-page report, “A Parallel World: Confronting the Abuse of Many Muslim Women in Britain Today,” was authored by Baroness Caroline Cox, a cross-bench member of the British House of Lords and one of the leading defenders of women’s rights in the UK.

The report shows how the increasing influence of Sharia law in Britain today is undermining the fundamental principle that there must be equality for all British citizens under a single law of the land. » | Soeren Kern | Sunday, April 12, 2015

Home Secretary Theresa May Pledges Blitz on Hate Preachers and Sharia Courts

DAILY EXPRESS: HOME Secretary Theresa May has pledged to crack down on Muslim extremists and hate preachers.

A review of Sharia courts and a ban on fundamentalist clerics spreading bile-laden messages would be ordered if the Tories are re-elected, she said.

Extreme groups trying to infiltrate schools, universities, town halls and charities also will be rooted out.

Mrs May used her last major speech before the general election to underline her stance on the Islamist threat to British society.

She said: “We have been clear all along that the Government’s counter-extremism strategy must seek to defeat extremism in all its forms, but it’s obvious from the evidence that the most serious and widespread form of extremism we need to confront is Islamist extremism.

“Extremism is not something that can just be ignored.

"It cannot be wished away.

"It must be tackled head on.”

Laying out her wish list of counter-terrorism measures in an uncompromising speech, Mrs May called on British Muslims to help to tackle extremism.

She said: “To those who choose consciously to reject our values and the basic principles of our society, the message is equally clear – the game is up.

"We will no longer tolerate your behaviour.

"We will expose your hateful beliefs for what they are.” » | Anil Dawar | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The Secrets Of Britain's Sharia Councils: Hidden Camera Report

A BBC Panorama Documentary goes undercover in one of the 85 sharia courts operating as a parallel legal system in the UK, uncovering the extensive abuse of women, refusal to grant divorces, charging of the woman but not the man for divorce proceedings, and even the taking awa

Inside Britain's Sharia Courts
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A new documentary that goes undercover in Britain's Islamic courts reveals the shocking discrimination some women are suffering

In a terraced house in East London, just a stone’s throw from the glittering stadiums of the Olympic Park, a handful of people wait in a small reception room. A young Asian woman and her mother hitch their scarves over their heads while a Somali couple stare at the floor.

This is Leyton Islamic Sharia Council, the oldest and most active such council in the country where scholars hear about 50 cases a month, most of them marital disputes. Nine out of 10 cases are brought by women because, in an Islamic marriage, it is far easier for a man to divorce; the only way for a woman is through one of these Sharia councils. No one knows how many there are in Britain today, in mosques and in houses – one report estimates at least 85. Although they cannot enforce their judgments, these councils control the lives of many Muslim women who may only have had a religious marriage. Even if they had a civil marriage too, some feel the need for a Sharia divorce as a way of moving on with their lives and finding a sense of resolution.

A sign outside one of the rooms says “Arbitration”. Inside it looks like a court, a wall lined with religious books and a raised dais for the judge. The tension in here crackles as a couple, who do not want to be identified, argue in front of Leyton’s most senior Islamic scholar, Dr Suhaib Hasan, an elderly man with a white beard wearing long robes.

They have been coming here for a year now. The woman accuses her husband of refusing to work, ignoring the children and verbally abusing her, all of which he vehemently denies. When he is ordered to leave for a moment, she breaks down in tears. “I hate him, he has ruined my life,” she cries. “I cannot bear to even look at him.”

Dr Hasan’s face is impassive as he tells her to give her husband one more month to try and reconcile, with the help of Allah. The woman sobs as she begs him to grant the divorce as she only had a religious marriage and her fate is in the council’s hands. » | Jane Corbin | Sunday, April 07, 2013

Inside a Sharia Divorce Court
Sheikh Haithem Al-Haddad and Dr Suhaib Hasan of Britain's Sharia Council allow us rare and exclusive access to their deliberations on Islamic divorces
Watch Guardian video here

Malaysian Islamic Courts Appoint First Women Judges
THE TIMES OF INDIA: KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of the first two women judges to Malaysia's Islamic courts was hailed Thursday as a move to address the gender imbalance in the country's religious judiciary.

Premier Najib Razak announced the appointments, made by the king in May, as an example of the government's commitment to transforming the Sharia judiciary.

"The appointments were made to enhance justice in cases involving families and women's rights and to meet current needs," Najib was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama last week.

Islamic courts run in parallel with civil courts in this Malay Muslim-majority country but women say they face much discrimination in Islamic divorce proceedings, inheritance and child custody cases. Continue reading and comment >>> AFP | Thursday, July 08, 2010

Sharia Courts Conquer UK

Anjem Choudary Sharia Courts Britain

Sharia Courts Conquer UK


Hat tip: Europe News >>>

Related:
UK hate preacher demands Koran-bashing author’s trial under sharia court >>> Submitted by Mohit Joshi | Friday, September 04, 2009

More Non-Muslims Turning to Sharia Courts to Resolve Civil Disputes
Sheikh Suhaib Hasan. Photo: TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: Increasing numbers of non-Muslims are turning to Sharia courts to resolve commercial disputes and other civil matters, The Times has learnt.

The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT) said that 5 per cent of its cases involved non-Muslims who were using the courts because they were less cumbersome and more informal than the English legal system.

Freed Chedie, a spokesman for Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siqqiqi, a barrister who set up the tribunal, said: “We put weight on oral agreements, whereas the British courts do not.”

In a case last month a non-Muslim Briton took his Muslim business partner to the tribunal to sort out a dispute over the profits in their car fleet company. “The non-Muslim claimed that there had been an oral agreement between the pair,” said Mr Chedie. “The tribunal found that because of certain things the Muslim man did, that agreement had existed. The non-Muslim was awarded £48,000.”

He said that the tribunal had adjudicated on at least 20 cases involving non-Muslims so far this year. The rulings of the tribunal are legally binding, provided that both parties agree to that condition at the beginning of any hearing.

Anti-Sharia campaigners, who claim that the Islamic system is radical and biased against women, expressed alarm at the news. Denis MacEoin, who wrote a recent report for the think-tank Civitas examining the spread of Sharia in Britain, said that MAT’s claims about non-Muslim clients “raises all sorts of questions”.

He added: “You really need to ask why. What advantages could that possibly have for them going to an Islamic court? Any [Sharia] court is going to be implementing aspects of a law that runs contrary to British law, because of the way it treats women for example.” >>> Fiona Hamilton, London Correspondent | Tuesday, July 21, 2009

How Sharia Courts Operate in the UK
MAIL ON SUNDAY: In a shabby converted sweetshop in Leyton, East London, a group of burka-clad Muslim women sit in a waiting room. They have an appointment with Dr Suhaib Hasan at his twice-weekly surgery.

The women look worried. There is no talking in the airless reception area - the only sound is a fan purring quietly in the corner as temperatures outside exceed 80F.

Inside, the atmosphere is just as stifling. There are no magazines, television or other diversions. The beige walls are bare except for a flow-chart depicting the process of securing a Muslim divorce, and a picture of Mecca.

This is no GP's surgery or Citizens Advice Bureau. Within these non-descript walls lies the nerve centre of sharia law in Britain, the headquarters of the Islamic Sharia Council, which oversees the growing number of Muslim courts operating in Britain.

For the first time, the Islamic Sharia Council has granted access to a newspaper to observe the entire sharia legal process in Britain. Over several weeks, I was allowed to witness the filing of complaints, individual testimony hearings and the monthly meeting of imams, or judges, where rulings are handed down.

Sharia has been operating here, in parallel to the British legal system, since 1982. Work includes issuing fatwas - religious rulings on matters ranging from why Islam considers homosexuality a sin to why two women are equivalent to one male witness in an Islamic court.

The Islamic Sharia Council also rules on individual cases, primarily in matters of Muslim personal or civil law: divorce, marriage, inheritance and settlement of dowry payments are the most common.

However, in the course of my investigation, I discovered how sharia is being used informally within the Muslim community to tackle crime such as gang fights or stabbings, bypassing police and the British court system.

A few hardline leaders would like it to be taken even further. One told me that Britain should adopt sharia punishments such as stoning and the chopping off of hands to reduce violent crime.

There are 12 councils or courts operating in Britain under Dr Hasan's group, based in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Rotherham and Bradford. Scores more imams dispense justice through their own mosques.

A study last week by the thinktank Civitas claimed that there could be as many as 85 sharia courts in Britain, although Dr Hasan says most of these are not formal courts. But it is certainly a growing network.

In his courts, support staff interview plaintiffs and compile a case study. Judgments are delivered by senior imams at closed monthly meetings and are sent in writing to the concerned parties. Up to 7,000 cases have been handled so far.

The Islamic Sharia Council is listed as a charity but people seeking a divorce, or talaq, must fill in a form and pay a fee. For a man it is £100; for women, it is £250 because the imams say it takes more work to process a woman's application as her word has to be corroborated.

The literal meaning of sharia is 'source of water in the desert', meaning the source of all spiritual life for Muslims. This is not just a code of law, but a way of life.

In sharia-based societies, such as Saudi Arabia or the old Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, crimes against society are punished by beheadings, stoning to death and amputations. Women are kept in purdah and limited to child-rearing and caring for the home.

All Western influences, from alcohol, music, television and movies, are banned. It is a rigid prescription for Islamic life that seeks its guidance from the days of the Prophet in the 7th Century.

In Britain, sharia courts are permitted to rule only in civil cases, such as divorce and financial disputes. Until last year, these rulings depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims. But now, due to a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996, they are enforceable by county and high courts. Sharia law UK: Mail on Sunday gets exclusive access to a British Muslim court >>> Edna Fernandes | July 04, 2009

Edna Fernandes is author of Holy Warriors, published by Portobello Books at £8.99. To order your copy at £8.99 inc p&p, call The Review Bookstore on 0845 155 0713. www.ednafernandes.com

Britain Has 85 Sharia Courts: The Astonishing Spread of the Islamic Justice Behind Closed Doors
MAIL Online: At least 85 Islamic sharia courts are operating in Britain, a study claimed yesterday.
The astonishing figure is 17 times higher than previously accepted.

The tribunals, working mainly from mosques, settle financial and family disputes according to religious principles. They lay down judgments which can be given full legal status if approved in national law courts.

However, they operate behind doors that are closed to independent observers and their decisions are likely to be unfair to women and backed by intimidation, a report by independent think-tank Civitas said.

Commentators on the influence of sharia law often count only the five courts in London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton that are run by the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, a body whose rulings are enforced through the state courts under the 1996 Arbitration Act.

But the study by academic and Islamic specialist Denis MacEoin estimates there are at least 85 working tribunals.

The spread of sharia law has become increasingly controversial since its role was backed last year by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and Lord Phillips, the Lord Chief Justice who stepped down last October.

Dr Williams said a recognised role for sharia law seemed 'unavoidable' and Lord Phillips said there was no reason why decisions made on sharia principles should not be recognised by the national courts.

But the Civitas report said the principles on which sharia courts work are indicated by the fatwas - religious decrees - set out on websites run by British mosques.

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

Examples set out in his study include a ruling that no Muslim woman may marry a non-Muslim man unless he converts to Islam and that any children of a woman who does should be taken from her until she marries a Muslim.

Further rulings, according to the report, approve polygamous marriage and enforce a woman's duty to have sex with her husband on his demand.

The report added: 'The fact that so many sharia rulings in Britain relate to cases concerning divorce and custody of children is of particular concern, as women are not equal in sharia law, and sharia contains no specific commitment to the best interests of the child that is fundamental to family law in the UK.

'Under sharia, a male child belongs to the father after the age of seven, regardless of circumstances.'

It said: '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.' >>> Steve Doughty | Monday, June 29, 2009

British Foster Sharia Courts to Counter Afghan Extremists
WA TODAY: BRITISH officials are helping to establish informal sharia courts in southern Afghanistan to discourage Afghans from turning to the Taliban for justice.

State-sanctioned Islamic and tribal justice in remote regions of Helmand province has led to councils of village and tribal elders adjudicating disputes over land and water rights.

Verdicts based on Islamic law and Pashtun tribal code allow Afghans to bypass the notoriously slow and corrupt Government courts and are aimed at preventing the Taliban from exploiting festering disputes.

"Informal justice is almost what the Taliban started by offering - it is what they continue to focus on," the Foreign Office official leading the effort to rebuild Helmand, Hugh Powell, said.

The Taliban gained power in the mid-1990s by promising order after years of civil war and rule by predatory warlords.
Its courts mete out swift justice and are a popular alternative to the official system.

British officials helping the Afghan Government set up the justice councils acknowledge the new bodies compromise international plans to deliver a modern, largely secular, legal system. >>> Ben Farmer Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan | Monday, 9, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Australia) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Australia) >>>

Muslims Rebuffed over Sharia Courts
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Gordon Brown's new minister for race relations has attacked sharia courts, insisting that the Muslim community in Britain is not “advanced” enough to have its own legal system.

Sadiq Khan, whose comments will have added impact because he is a Muslim himself, has also warned that the growing number of tribunals based on Islamic codes could entrench discrimination against women.

Khan, who became minister for community cohesion in the government reshuffle this month, said: “The burden is on those who want to open up these courts to persuade us why they should do it.”

His comments contrast with those of figures such as Lord Phillips, the lord chief justice, who said in July that Islamic law could be used to settle marital and financial disputes.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has said the establishment of sharia courts in the future “seems unavoidable” in Britain.

In a wide-ranging interview on race and immigration, Khan, 38, the Labour MP for Tooting, south London, also: Warned that an economic downturn could fuel ethnic tensions. Demanded an increase in benefits for immigrants with larger families.

Admitted that government antiterror laws had caused “problems” in race relations. Called on public bodies to cut translation services to encourage immigrants to learn English.

Khan’s outspoken remarks on sharia courts are likely to cause the most controversy.

The Sunday Times last month revealed that the government had quietly sanctioned a network of sharia judges, empowering them to issue legally binding rulings on disputes including finance, divorce, inheritance and domestic violence. Muslims Rebuffed over Sharia Courts >>> Jonathan Oliver, Political Editor | October 12, 2008

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The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Church of Scotland Backs Sharia Courts!
SCOTSMAN: THE Church of Scotland last night welcomed the possibility of introducing sharia law courts in Scotland.

Rev Ian Galloway, convener of the Church and Society Council, said sharia courts had been unfairly portrayed following the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments in February that it "seems unavoidable" that parts of Islamic sharia law would be adopted in the UK. Church of Scotland Backs Islamic Sharia Law Courts >>> | October 10, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) / Free delivery >>>

Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve
THE GUARDIAN: Shadow home secretary says government has been 'lax on fanatical preachers, silent on sharia courts'

The government was accused today by the Conservatives of being "silent" on sharia courts, which must be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, made the criticism as he warned that the government has neglected the threat of radicalisation.

"For all its tough talk on terrorism, the government is dropping the ball on security and radicalisation," Grieve said.

"Lax on fanatical preachers. Silent on sharia courts. Let me make our position clear. Sharia courts can be given no authority over criminal and family law matters in Britain. Our law must reign supreme. The next Conservative government will make sure it does."

Grieve, who told the Guardian last week that multiculturalism has downplayed the identity of "long-term inhabitants" and failed to provide a coherent identity for second and third generation immigrants, believes that sharia courts can have a role. He likens them to the Jewish Beth Din, which are acceptable because their rulings do not conflict with English law.

The shadow home secretary said that Jewish people are entitled to have "arbitration under Jewish customary law".

He added: "The same can perfectly properly comply to sharia law as long as the consequences are also not repugnant to English justice. That's very different from saying that you should allow sharia law to be applied to Muslims in Britain on say crime or domestic violence or anything else ... Somebody has been trying to suggest that they have that sort of imprimatur of respectability. And we have to be quite clear that we all live under one legal system." Government Has Neglected Threat of Radicalisation, Says Grieve >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | September 30, 2008

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Cameron: I’ll Curb Muslim Fanatics
I do hope that David Cameron knows that it is part of the ‘religion’ of Islam NOT to integrate with the infidel. So how is he going to bring integration about when the prophet of Islam himself told his adherents even to dress differently from the infidels, and thereby set themselves apart?

If Cameron is going to ban sharia courts, this is to be applauded. The current government doesn’t have the courage to take on the Muslims for several reasons. But one of these reasons is this: The majority of Muslim voters, I believe, vote Labour. - ©Mark

SUNDAY EXPRESS: A TOUGH package is being drawn up by David Cameron to tackle Islamic extremism. One of the key proposals is to ban sharia law courts from operating in this country.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express, Mr Cameron’s security adviser, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, said the Tories were determined to “integrate” British Muslims into mainstream society.



Lady Neville-Jones, a former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee which advises the Prime Minister on terrorism, said: “We are not going to have any status for sharia courts. Absolutely not.”



Outlining the Tories’ wider plans for tackling Islamic extremism, she added: “We will be tough. We will be really tough on the men of violence and those who lead them to violence. That’s the real gap between us and the Government at the moment.”



She said the party would abandon the “blind alley of multiculturalism, which has deliberately gone down the road of separation for its own sake. We want unity and opportunity, despite difference, through integration.”



She was backed by Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve, who said that multiculturalism had left a “terrible” legacy and created a vacuum exploited by extremists. The Tory plans also include:



Banning a string of groups blamed for encouraging Islamic extremism.



Working with other EU countries to change the Convention on Human Rights which has blocked the deportation of hate preacher Abu Qatada and others believed to be a threat to Britain.



Changing the school curriculum to encourage teaching of British values and make youngsters “proud of their country.”

In recent years, sharia courts have been established in a number of cities. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, caused controversy by claiming the adoption of some aspects of sharia law was “unavoidable”.



Supporters claim the verdicts of sharia courts are already legally binding in a string of areas, including divorce, financial disputes and even cases of domestic violence and assault.



Critics insist the courts discriminate against women and undermine the rule of law. They also warn the use of Islamic law encourages a separatist agenda. Cameron: I’ll Curb Muslim Fanatics >>> By Jason Groves | September 28, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Conservatives Would Ban Sharia Courts, Says Shadow Minister: A Conservative government would ban sharia courts and impose a tough crackdown on Islamic extremism, the shadow security minister has said. >>> By Jon Swaine | September 28, 2008

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE:
British Bishop: Questions Remain on Sharia >>> By Toby Cohen | September 28, 2008

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Sharia Courts Are Extending Their Reach
TIMESONLINE: The longer we acquiesce in the spread of Islamic law in Britain, the more it will happen

There are only seven basic plots in literature. One of them, surely, must be “cry wolf”. Last week, a variation on the “cry wolf” story emerged which, in its long-term impact, threatens to be far more dangerous to Western civilisation than any banking collapse.
Reports emerged that Sharia had been enshrined in English law. According to one newspaper: “Five Sharia courts have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester and Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The Government has quietly sanctioned that their rulings are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.”

Cue outrage and condemnation. But Muslim organisations dismissed the story as nonsense. And they were backed by the Government. As the Ministry of Justice and Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform put it in a joint statement: “Sharia law is not part of the law of England and Wales and the Government has no intention of making any change that would conflict with British laws and values.”

So can we all breathe easily again? If only. Sharia may not be enshrined in English law, but the real impact of Sharia is just as worrying. Sharia Courts Are Extending Their Reach >>> By Stephen Pollard | Septemebr 22, 2008

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