Divorce Sharia Style
Talking point
In a speech on 7 February the Archbishop of Canterbury provoked a fierce response by suggesting that British law should accommodate to certain aspects of Sharia.
Down the ages religious authorities of all types have argued that the laws which they believe to be divine should be incorporated into the secular legal system, and in many countries religious and secular laws are interwoven. For example, British law prohibits blasphemy and also insists that all state schools have a daily act of worship of a broadly Christian character. So the demand for official recognition of the religious rules of minority communities such as Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Sikhs may seem like a logical move. However it raises some difficult questions.
The issues
- Britain has many minority communities that are not Christian, and some of them believe that they should have their own religious courts or institutions to make decisions according to their customs and tradtions.
- Not all the members of Britain’s minority communities belong to, or want to be ruled or guided by, religious institutions.
- Some religious groups already have some form of court system which operates alongside the mainstream legal system, such as the Jewish Beth Din and the Islamic Sharia Council.
- Within minorities there are different interpretations of religious law, so the rulings of one court or council may not be recognised by another. This is why, for example, in a recent case a woman who converted to Judaism through a Beth Din in Israel was not recognised as Jewish by a Beth Din in Britain.
- In an ICM poll of British Muslims carried out in February 2006, 40% said they would support the introduction of Sharia in predominantly Muslim areas of Britain.
- Women and other vulnerable members of minority communities are often disadvantaged by traditional forms of mediation, since they have less choice about whether or not to submit to their rulings.
- Many members of minorities prefer to resolve conflicts in religious courts rather than ‘washing their dirty linen in public’ in a mainstream court where they might be exposed to hostility or be misunderstood.
What do you think?
Have your say on the Channel 4 Culture Forum.
Or you can follow up these issues in the Find out more section of this website.
There’s more information about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech and the debate it has stirred up – and a chance to have your say – on the Channel 4 News website.
