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Two years ago Britain’s Archbishop of Canterbury provoked a storm of criticism by suggesting it might be necessary for the British legal system to incorporate certain aspects of sharia for its Muslim citizens. Britain allows arbitration panels to rule according to Islamic law on some issues. And there’s evidence now that suggests that Sharia law is growing as an alternative way to settle disputes there. It’s still controversial. But the founders of the arbitration service say they’re starting to get business from an unexpected quarter – non Muslims. The World’s Laura Lynch reports.
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MARCO WERMAN: Two years ago Britain’s top religious figure provoked criticism for making positive comments about Islamic, or Sharia law. The Archbishop of Canterbury said it might be necessary for the British legal system to incorporate certain aspects of Sharia for its Muslim citizens. Britain allows arbitration panels to rule according to Islamic law on some issues and now there’s evidence that suggests that Sharia arbitration is growing as an alternative way to settle disputes there. It’s still controversial, but the founders of the arbitration service say they’re starting to get business from an unexpected quarter, non-Muslims. The World’s Laura Lynch reports.
LAURA LYNCH: Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh is a partner in the Scottish law firm of Hamilton Burns in Glasgow. She says she’s notice a growing number of her Muslim clients asking for a different kind of legal advice. Advice based on Islamic Sharia law.
TASMINA AHMED SHEIKH: And I find myself obviously as a Muslim lawyer living in this country that more frequently than not I’m asked questions, what does Sharia say about this, what does Islam say about this. It’s much likened to seeking advice from a Priest.
LYNCH: Ahmed Sheikh didn’t have the answers, so her firm is now teamed up with a scholar who specializes in Islamic family law. Hamilton Burns is the first law firm in Britain to offer advice in Sharia. That’s one recognition of the growing importance of Sharia for Britain’s 1.6 million Muslims. But the ancient Islamic system is now attracting attention from an unexpected quarter, non-Muslims. Sheikh Faizul Siddiqi is co-founder of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal which oversees Sharia hearings in Britain. He says non-Muslims are turning to Sharia arbitration for practical reasons.
SHEIKH FAIZUL SIDDIQI: We’re efficient, we deal with matters very quickly, we’re cheap and we’re informal. So all of those good reasons why people look for alternative methodologies for resolving their disputes. That’s one of the main reasons why people are turning to these tribunals.
LYNCH: The tribunals rule on issues ranging from divorce and financial disputes to domestic violence. Siddiqi says the numbers are still small, perhaps 20 non-Muslims in Britain turned to Sharia last year. But he says it’s growing by about 15% this year. For him, it’s a matter of providing a service, no matter what the person’s religious beliefs.
SIDDIQI: Whether someone’s an atheist or an agnostic, they want us and if they feel confident that they want this arbitration tribunal to exercise justice for them, then we’re very happy to do so.
LYNCH: But this development worries those who argue that any recognition of Sharia law in Britain is a mistake. Maryam Namazie campaigns against Islamic law in Britain. She says it’s discriminatory and regressive for women.
MARYAM NAMAZIE: Even if everybody begins to use Sharia court, it still doesn’t make them any fairer or any more acceptable. I think that’s them main issue at hand is that they are really unfair and so no matter how many people use them, we still need to challenge the fact that they exist and question why people need to go to these sorts of courts when they’re living in the 21st century.
LYNCH: For Namazie it’s a worrying sign that the face of Islam in Britain is changing.
NAMAZIE: Of course it’s becoming more accepted in the same way that they burka is becoming more accepted and Islamic organizations that are actually part and parcel of the political Islamic movement are becoming more accepted.
LYNCH: But lawyer Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh is comfortable with her firm’s decision to extend Sharia legal advice and she refuses to condemn the Islamic legal system.
SHEIKH: I’m a perfectly competent individual, competent in my profession, competent in my religion and I don’t feel that for my own experience that Sharia is discriminatory towards me in any way.
LYNCH: Jewish tribunals that oversee some areas of business and family law have been operating in the same fashion in Britain for many years without attracting the same level of controversy. But critic Namazie argues they should be abolished too in the name keeping religion out of the legal system. For The World, I’m Laura Lynch in London.
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