[ihr_list] Sharia council and true Islam

From: "Javed Chaudry" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "jchaudry" for DMARC)
To: "Mumtaz Khan" <mmkhann@xxxxxxxxx>, "ahmar hussain" <ahmarhussain@xxxxxxxxx>, "abdul hameed dossani" <dossani47@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <ihr_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <nizamikan07@xxxxxxxxx>, "Sheikh Ahmed Karim" <ahmadkarim_sr@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2017 13:13:12 -0400

I am reproducing below an article from Gatestone Institute, an organization
that exists only to malign Islam and Muslims. The message of this articles
is something that those who consider themselves responsible Muslims should
pay heed to. The problem discussed is not limited to Britain it is practiced
in many countries where Muslims live. It is not (Quranic) Islam that is at
fault, it is the man-made (I call it the cultural Islam) that is at fault
which is a factor in maligning the true (Quranic) Islam. The enemies of
Islam or those Muslims who do not understand (or care for) true Islam often
fail to distinguish the difference between the two.

Javed Chaudry

.

Sharia Councils and Sexual Abuse in Britain

by  <https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Khadija+Khan> Khadija Khan
April 14, 2017 at 5:00 am

<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10191/sharia-councils-sexual-abuse>
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10191/sharia-councils-sexual-abuse

§  As bad as this is, there is an even darker side to the story: Under
sharia law, the second husband is under no obligation to give his wife a
quick divorce allowing him to keep her as his virtual sex slave for as
long as he wishes.

§  If one asks how all of this jibes with British law, the answer is that it
does not.

§  The UK-based NGO, Muslim Women's Network, penned an open letter -- with
100 signatories -- to the British government and Home Affairs Select
Committee demanding that the Sharia Council be investigated to determine
whether its practices adhere to British law. In response, the Sharia Council
declared the letter to be "Islamophobic" and accused the Muslim Women's
Network of being an anti-Muslim organization.

§  It is British law, not sharia, law that protects Muslim individuals and
couples, as it does any other citizen. Contrary to what apologists for this
travesty say, the plight of Muslim women should be treated as an issue of
human rights.

The most recent scandal surrounding the sexual exploitation of Muslim women
by Islamic religious leaders in the UK is yet further proof of the way in
which Britain is turning a blind eye to horrific practices going on right
under its nose.

A  <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39480846> BBC investigation into "halala" --
a ritual enabling a divorced Muslim woman to remarry her husband by first
wedding someone else, consummating the union, and then being divorced by him
-- revealed that imams in Britain are not only encouraging this, but
profiting financially from it. This depravity has led to many such women
being held hostage, literally and figuratively, to men paid to become their
second husbands.

This ritual, which is considered a misinterpretation of Islamic sharia law
even by extremist Shi'ites and Saudi-style Salafists, is practiced by
certain Islamic sects, such as Hanafis, Barelvis and Deobandis. When a
husband repeats the Arabic word for divorce -- talaq -- three times to his
wife, these sects consider a Muslim marriage null and void. For such a woman
to be allowed to return to the husband who banished her, she must first
marry someone else -- and have sex with him -- before the second husband
divorces her.

These divorce rites, despite the laws of the land, are common in
<http://scroll.in/article/806299/if-pakistan-and-21-other-counties-have-abol
ished-triple-talaq-why-shouldnt-india> India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other
Asian countries, where a majority of the people belong to the Hanafi,
Barelvi or Deobandi sects. Nevertheless, local seminaries, mosques and
online services openly advertise and promote halala with impunity; it is
accepted by society and rarely monitored by state authorities.

In Britain, halala has emerged as a booming business, with websites and
social media sites offering to provide women with second husbands for
exorbitant sums of money. As bad as this is, there is an even darker side to
the story: Under sharia law, the second husband is under no obligation to
give his wife a quick divorce -- allowing him to keep her as his virtual sex
slave for as long as he wishes.

One Muslim woman, who changed her mind about going through with halala after
looking into the process, told the BBC that she knew others who did undergo
the process, and ended up being sexually abused for months by the second
husbands paid to marry them. According to a
<https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/mar/01/inside-britains-sharia-councils
-hardline-and-anti-women-or-a-dignified-way-to-divorce> report in The
Guardian, the Sharia Council of Britain says it deals with hundreds of
divorce cases annually.

This
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358625/Inside-Britain-s-Sharia-cou
rts-EIGHTY-FIVE-Islamic-courts-dispensing-justice-UK-special-investigation-r
eally-goes-doors-shock-core.html> infamous council is indirectly responsible
for what essentially has become a rape pandemic, since it does nothing to
stop or refute halala. In fact, it declares that the practice is completely
legal under sharia law. The only caveat, the council states, is that the
imams presiding over it are not following the proper guidelines, according
to which the second marriage and divorce should not be premeditated, but
rather happen naturally.

If one asks how all of this jibes with British law, the answer is that it
does not. But young Muslims in the UK are discouraged by their communities
from marrying through the British system, and are told to have imams perform
their weddings and sharia councils register their marriages. Couples who
comply end up being at the mercy of Islamic authorities in family matters,
including divorce.

Due to its often unethical practices conducted in the name of religious law,
the Sharia Council has come under scrutiny a number of times. Last November,
for instance, the UK-based NGO, Muslim Women's Network,
<http://www.mwnuk.co.uk/mediaStatmentDetail.php?id=172> penned an open
letter -- with 100 signatories -- to the British government and Home Affairs
Select Committee demanding that the Sharia Council be investigated to
determine whether its practices adhere to British law.

In response, the Sharia Council declared the letter to be "Islamophobic" and
accused the Muslim Women's Network of being an anti-Muslim organization. In
addition, Labour MP Naz Shah
<http://www.mwnuk.co.uk/mediaStatmentDetail.php?id=172>  jumped to the
defense of the Sharia Council, rejecting the idea of an inquiry, on the
grounds that shutting down such councils could mean that more women would be
stuck in abusive marriages.

While acknowledging that these councils could be used as a tool to deny
women their rights, Shah said that they also serve as valuable arbitrators
in marital disputes.

Her claims are totally baseless. It is British law, not sharia, law that
protects Muslim individuals and couples, as it does any other citizen.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/pics/1013.jpg

Haitham al-Haddad is a British shari'a council judge, and sits on the board
of advisors for the Islamic Sharia Council. Regarding the handling of
domestic violence cases, he stated in an interview, "A man should not be
questioned why he hit his wife, because this is something between them.
Leave them alone. They can sort their matters among themselves." (Image
source: Channel 4 News video screenshot)

Had the British government addressed Sharia Council malpractice when it was
first revealed, we would not be facing this pandemic today. Contrary to what
apologists for this travesty say, the plight of Muslim women should be
treated as an issue of human rights.

It is time for the British government to wake up and take a tough stand on
such unethical, and probably illegal, system. And the sooner the better,
lest the whole sharia council system go "underground" and out of reach to
protect thousands of women from abuse.

Khadija Khan is a Pakistan-based journalist and commentator.

© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
Gatestone Institute.

Follow-Ups:
- [ihr_list] Re: Sharia council and true Islam
  - From: Omer Abid

[ihr_list] Sharia council and true Islam

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