Do we allow Sharia law in this country?

[happydappy2]

I thought we all had to abide by British Law-wtf is going on? This is bad for women...surely this isn't true
https://x.com/benhabib6/status/1949438058723528730

Actually a Catholic can apply to have their marriage annulled and this is judged in some kind of Catholic court. And for your information, forced marriage is forbidden under sharia law

My parents had to have a registrar.

Cilla Black got married in a civil ceremony in London, then had a church wedding in Liverpool.

If the couple had done the civil ceremony the day before would you really notice the paperwork as a child? At the RC weddings I have been to the bride and groom have left the church proper and gone in to the vestry to do the paperwork.

It’s fascinating that some people accuse me of being racist, when I am purely showing concern for Muslim women. Sharia seems oppressive to women.

it’s not racist to expect ALL women to have the same rights as the men of their faith. It’s the double standards that are sad….men can navigate the world showing their face whilst females must cover their faces.

can anyone name one positive that Sharia brings to women?

There are over 80 Sharia courts in the UK. This is bad news for women and bad news for community cohesion.

But (again) is anyone being forced to use these instead of the secular courts ?

The bottom line is you can't help people who won't help themselves. If someone chooses to use a "court" setup by their religion and chooses to abide by whatever that "court" decides, then what more can be done to help them ?

And the critical question is would a court in the UK - civil or criminal - uphold a sharia "court" decision over what their ruling would be ?

I'll restate that practising a religion is simply being a member of a club. And agreeing to abide by club rules (no jeans on the fairway, that sort of thing). However those club rules don't trump the law of the land and can (and have been) be challenged in the regular courts where appropriate.

I agree it's bad news for community cohesion. But you could say the same of football in certain cities.

The title of this thread is posed as a question, and the answer is a very simple ... "we" don't. Unless the OP has an example in mind of someone being forced to use a sharia "court" by a secular UK court, And the word "forced" means "given no legal choice", not "pressured into it by their religion".

All mainstream religions shit on women. But equally all religions are a matter of personal choice. Much like what to wear or who to vote for or what's for tea.

Laws are needed to protect the weak not the strong. A unwise choice made by a naive 18 year old should not be irrevocable.This is a human rights issue. You cannot give away your human rights, you cannot consent to slavery for example.
From the European Court of human rights 2019.

1. The Assembly is also concerned about the “judicial” activities of “Sharia councils” in the United Kingdom. Although they are not considered part of the British legal system, Sharia councils attempt to provide a form of alternative dispute resolution, whereby members of the Muslim community, sometimes voluntarily, often under considerable social pressure, accept their religious jurisdiction mainly in marital issues and Islamic divorce proceedings but also in matters relating to inheritance and Islamic commercial contracts. The Assembly is concerned that the rulings of the Sharia councils clearly discriminate against women in divorce and inheritance cases. The Assembly is aware that informal Islamic courts may also exist in other Council of Europe member States.
2. The Assembly calls on the member States of the Council of Europe to protect human rights regardless of religious or cultural practices or traditions on the principle that, where human rights are concerned, there is no room for religious or cultural exceptions.

And for your information, forced marriage is forbidden under sharia law

Perhaps you should let the Foreign Office know and have them disband their forced marriage unit which deals with hundreds of cases and provides rather revealing statistics. Some of the comments of these board are far more shameful than that of the "gammon" types.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forced-marriage-unit-statistics-2022/forced-marriage-unit-statistics-2022#nationality-of-victims

Wow. So much ball carrying for patriarchy and disdain and callousness for women and girls in one comment is a remarkable achievement on a supposedly feminist board. I salute your indefatigability.

What I want to know is why has this not been dealt with?
Is it the Muslim councils resisting and why. As I've said before some Mosques and Imams are registered. The only reason I can see is they want to preserve the inherent anti-woman bias as it is an intrinsic part of their faith.

In 2018 there was a review which
recommended,

that the law should be changed to ensure that civil marriages are conducted before or at the same time as the Islamic marriage ceremony to ensure that a greater number of women would have the right to a civil divorce and consequent financial provision;

that cultural change within Muslim communities was necessary so that communities acknowledge women’s rights in civil law, especially in areas of marriage and divorce;

the creation of a body by the State that would set up the process for councils to regulate themselves and design a code of practice for Sharia councils to accept and implement.

This recommendation was not unanimous and was rejected by the Government on the basis that regulation could add legitimacy to the perception of the existence of a parallel legal system even though the outcomes of Sharia Councils have no standing in civil law.

In March 2018, the Government published its Integrated Communities Strategy green paper in which it welcomed the Review. The Government said that it shared the concerns about the lack of legal protections available following an unregistered marriage and about the allegations of discrimination, and that it would consider limited law reform. The Government also stated that it would support awareness campaigns.

In October 2019, the Government indicated that it was still considering the matter of law reform.

Other calls for law reform
The Casey Review A review into opportunity and integration, published in 2016, also called for the registration of all marriages taking place in the UK;

the Register Our Marriage campaign, founded in 2014, is calling for it to be compulsory for all UK religious marriages to be registered.

Baroness Cox (Crossbench) has introduced Private Member’s Bills on related issues for eight consecutive years.

Why not answer the questions posed then ?

Many asian based women's groups have expressed serious concerns about the sharia councils for many years and have recounted cases of coercion, especially amongst imported brides of arranged marriages. But you are not really interested are you? You cannot be bothered to do the minimum googling to find out about a longstanding issue which affects one of the biggest minorities in the UK facing the most oppressive and harsh religious laws existing on the planet today.

southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/sharia-laws-are-threat-not-solution/

Asian feminists and ex muslim groups have been pissing into the wind for years as there is no support from the wider UK feminists who are afraid of the issue as they will be undoubtedly be accused of being racist and islamophobic. Even worse, there is a subset of intersectional feminists who have lost their tiny little minds as the jihadi hardboys are their favourite revolutionaries du jour. The government - Tory and labour- both look at only their electoral advantage.

Sharia councils do hold a fair bit of weight in the Muslim community. I remember reading an article by a Muslim woman who wanted to divorce her abusive husband but would've had to pay him back the dowry or something like that - basically an amount she couldn't afford.

If she didn't she'd still be considered married by the Muslim community. She'd have been ostracised and no man would've entertained marrying her.

Hell will freeze over before anybody on the hard left will ever criticise the practices of an ethnic minority.

I agree, so called 'feminist' in the West have betrayed the women of their own culture with gender ideology and they've betrayed the women of ever other culture with the sacred multi-culturalism. Doctrine MUST not be question, feminism is now a cult. 🤯

Well that's the entrance price for your religion.

You have the choice not to believe in fairy stories.

You can only legislate for so much.

I know a little 6 year old girl. She's bright as a button, her reading is great. She loves jokes at the moment. I watched her running the other day, she was like a little wild animal, free, strong, joyful.
She was born in Afghanistan. She's escaped a living hell by the skin of her teeth.
We legislate as much as is necessary to ensure women's human rights.

What is your objection to this reform?

https://share.google/zcOTU66ZBwwRfOJuz

WHY is the Marriage Act 1949 out of date (70 years without reform)?
English marriage law is no longer “Fit for Purpose” for our society. It requires only 3 faiths to register their religious marriages:
 Anglicans (Church of England and Wales), Jews, Quakers
All other faiths can volunteer to register. But if this is not done, the marriage will not be recognised under English law.
In contrast, in most developing countries, it has been mandatory since the 60s to register a religious marriage. So a religious marriage
registered abroad is recognized worldwide.
In the 21st century, ROM believes a fair and equal marriage law must cover all faiths – or none.