The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales. In the United Kingdom, a solicitor is a lawyer who generally advises clients and prepares legal documents. The Society has written a guide on Sharia inheritance laws for use in the British legal system, and also conducted a seminar in June called, “Developing Services for Muslim Clients – An Introduction to Islamic Rules For Small Firms.”
The seminar covered inheritance laws, Islamic finance, marriage, divorce, and child custody issues. Sharia or Islamic law discriminates against women in several of these areas. For instance, when adjudicating a case dealing with inheritance laws, under sharia law male heirs receive twice the amount inherited by a female heir (Qur’an 4:11). Non-Muslims are not allowed to inherit anything from a Muslim and only Muslim marriages are recognized. Children born outside of an Islamic marriage cannot inherit anything.
The Sharia law position regarding child custody says that the children go to the mother until the age of 7, but thereafter they are returned to the father. The best interest of the child, which is the usual consideration in Western courts, is not taken into account.
Polygamy is allowed within sharia law with men marrying up to four women, however women cannot marry more than one man (Qur’an 4:3). Under sharia law a wife has no right to divorce her husband without his permission, although a man may divorce his wife for any reason. The Qur’an also states that if a husband divorces his wife, he cannot remarry her until after she has married another husband and he has divorced her (Qur’an 2:230).
As one participant in the seminar noted, “By promoting these services for Muslims in England and Wales, they are offering the prospect for Muslims to live according to a different set of rules than other people.” There are now at least 85 sharia courts in the United Kingdom operating from mosques. They are used to settle financial and family disputes according to Islamic law.
The Australian reported in 2011, that sharia law had become a shadow legal system within the nation by endorsing polygamous and underage marriages that are outlawed by Australian law.
Several states in the U.S. have passed laws against the use of sharia law in American courts. Critics have argued that sharia is not considered in cases in the U.S., however an assessment of state appellate court cases have shown that sharia has been considered in many cases across the United States, and in at least 15 trial court cases and 12 appellate cases, judges made decisions based on sharia law even when the decisions conflicted the U.S. law.
Prayer Points:
The multiculturalist movement in the West has convinced many politicians and lawmakers that sharia law is simply religious law that Muslims observe. Pray that lawmakers will awaken to the fact that sharia law is in conflict with Western laws that consider men and women equal.
Jihad Watch reported about a talk show on Egyptian television where an Islamic cleric compared the teachings of Islam to the teachings of Christianity in regards to women. He said, “the Christian religion does not differentiate between women and men, but it confirms their perfect equality: it gives them an equal share in inheritance, it bans divorce, and it bans polygamy. ….Now, if my son hears such things while he’s in school, he’ll come home and say to me, ‘Father, why do you have many wives? You are unjust – unlike Christianity which is full of justice!’” Pray that Muslim sons and daughters will hear the teachings of Christianity and realize that sharia law is unjust.
Many Westerners believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Some even have a fascination of Islam and are drawn toward it. Ask God to reveal the stark differences between Christianity and Islam, disclose the bondage of living under sharia law and draw them to a relationship and fellowship with the living Christ.
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