Britain is said to be emerging as the “Western capital” of Sharia Courts, where men are allowed to end their marriages just by uttering the word “divorce” thrice.
In an investigation carried out by The Times, it was discovered that polygamy has been normalised and there is an application in which Islamic wills can be created by Muslims living in England and Wales.
The application has a drop-down menu in which the men fill in how many wives they have, which generally ranges between one and four.
The Sharia court has approved this application which gives daughters half of the amount of inheritance which are given to the sons.
There are 85 operational Sharia courts or councils in Britain. The first such court was first established in the country in 1982.
Across Europe and North America, a lot of Muslims are seen to be going to these Sharia courts in Britain that work like informal organisations and issue religious rulings on family life and marriage, reported The Times.
As per the report, around 100,000 Islamic marriages have been conducted in the country which are not registered officially with the civil authorities.
Theologian and Professor Mona Siddiqui, in an official review, said that Sharia was defined as jurisprudence on the basis of the opinions expressed by jurists in the classical period of Islam, which is from the 7th century till the 13th century.
Most Muslim countries have modified various aspects of Sharia, however, in the case of marriage and divorce they have generally observed the classical rulings.
Experts, women raise concerns over Sharia courts
The National Secular Society expressed their concern over the existence of such parallel legal systems in Britain.
Society’s chief executive Stephen Evans issued a warning that such councils “undermine the principle of one law for all” and the rights of women and children are negatively impacted.
“It should be remembered that Sharia councils only exist because Muslim women need them to obtain a religious divorce. Muslim men do not need them because they can unilaterally divorce their wife,” Evans said.
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Meanwhile, women complained that religious texts were being used to control them and hadiths are being quoted by men to force their wives into sexual relations.
A woman said that an elder had also suggested that she should enter a religiously sanctioned “pleasure marriage.”
Radical preacher Haitham al-Haddad, who founded one such court, in an online lecture in 2009 said, “A man should not be questioned why he hit his wife because this is something between them. Leave them alone. They can sort out their matters among themselves.”
Speaking to The Times, Haddad said that he does not preach not questioning men for beating their wives but only explains why marriages should be preserved.
(With inputs from agencies)