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November 29, 2006
Sharia Law Is Spreading As Authority Wanes in UK
Sharia law is spreading as authority wanes
By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor
Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 29/11/2006
Telegraph UK.co
Islamic sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, a report claims.
Sharia, derived from several sources including the Koran, is applied to varying degrees in predominantly Muslim countries but it has no binding status in Britain.
However, the BBC Radio 4 programme Law in Action produced evidence yesterday that it was being used by some Muslims as an alternative to English criminal law. Aydarus Yusuf, 29, a youth worker from Somalia, recalled a stabbing case that was decided by an unofficial Somali "court" sitting in Woolwich, south-east London.
Mr Yusuf said a group of Somali youths were arrested on suspicion of stabbing another Somali teenager. The victim's family told the police it would be settled out of court and the suspects were released on bail.
A hearing was convened and elders ordered the assailants to compensate their victim. "All their uncles and their fathers were there," said Mr Yusuf. "So they all put something towards that and apologised for the wrongdoing."
Mr Yusuf told the programme he felt more bound by the traditional law of his birth than by the laws of his adopted country. "Us Somalis, wherever we are in the world, we have our own law," he said
In his book Islam in Britain, Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, says there is an "alternative parallel unofficial legal system" that operates in the Muslim community on a voluntary basis.
"Sharia courts now operate in most larger cities, with different sectarian and ethnic groups operating their own courts that cater to their specific needs according to their traditions," he says. These are based on sharia councils, set up in Britain to help Muslims solve family and personal problems.
Sharia councils may grant divorces under religious law to a woman whose husband refuses to complete a civil divorce by declaring his marriage over. There is evidence that these councils are evolving into courts of arbitration.
Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi, a barrister and principal of Hijaz College Islamic University, near Nuneaton, Warwicks, said this type of court had advantages for Muslims.
"It operates on a low budget, it operates on very small timescales and the process and the laws of evidence are far more lenient and it's less awesome an environment than the English courts," he said.
Mr Siddiqi predicted that there would be a formal network of Muslim courts within a decade.
"I was speaking to a police officer who said we no longer have the bobby on the beat who will give somebody a slap on the wrist.
Wild Thing's comment......
I look at this kind of thing happening and it makes me even more concerned about our country. All they have to do is stand up to this garbage and say no. But they keep sipping the PC koolaid and repeat endlessly "our strength is our diversity" over and over. Liberals' PC-ness will get us all killed.
I would think that those who voluntarily submit themselves to this sharia court will exert pressure on their infidel associates to submit to it.
Posted by Wild Thing at November 29, 2006 12:55 AM
Comments
I see it coming here, and in fact there have been a few isolated cases reported in America. The muslim who killed and buried his daughter for some infraction of the quoran.
I would wonder how many times sharia law may have been applied in minor cases in locations like Detroit.
Anyway, I wonder how it will work when some ignorant muslims try to apply sharia law to an armed redneck.
Posted by: TomR at November 29, 2006 11:18 AM
TomR ~ now that is a quite the visual!!
Of course, that might be one reason the Dems want more gun control...just a thought.
Posted by: yankeemom at November 29, 2006 12:10 PM
Tom I had forgotten about Detroit, but I bet your right and it has been applied there already. whew what a time we are living in, very scary.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2006 01:49 PM
Yankeemom, good point, they sure do want gun control.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2006 01:50 PM
I always use the B.R.A.S.S system for good gun control.
Breath, Relax, Aim, Slack, Squeeze,... You don't hurt' em, if you don't hit 'em... Where is Chesty when we need him.
Thats good gun control.
Posted by: Mark at November 29, 2006 02:09 PM
Mark....Chesty was great!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2006 02:11 PM
I know I've said this before, but to me this represents the success of the corrosive effect of British self-hate over the past fifty years. And it shows everywhere, but especially in their comedy.
Study British humor over the past fifty years (including any Brit comedy from the 1940's, or Monty Python or Beyond The Fringe), and see a relentless offensive by The Left (of which the Pythons were only one, and represented a fairly mild version) on the very IDEA of Englishness, of nationality, of home culture, and you see the same thing over and over. Everything British represented as essentially stupid, crude, ugly, jingoistic, simple-minded or arrogant.
Well, they were right about the stupid part. Today, what remains is just a shabby theme park. They're even considering removing the Cross of St. George from the flag in places which might offend Muslims.
It seems more likely that The Battle of Britain was a cultural fluke. Or the Battle of the Somme, when Britain had 19,000 killed and 37,000 wounded on the first day.
Whatever you say about the catastrophe of WWI and WWII, the current generation is pissing on the sacrifices of their predecessors. The consequences of this kind of national cowardice are hard to predict, but any one of the possible outcomes is going to be awful.
Posted by: Rhod at November 29, 2006 03:49 PM
Rhod, you described it exactly.
If we as a country and our leaders do not change our thinking on this war, on Muslims and on Islam we will regret it for the rest of eternity. imo
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2006 06:37 PM
