By Helen Martin

OUTRAGE has followed a BBC Radio 4 programme which claimed that secret Muslim courts imposing sharia law are operating in most cities in Britain. Perhaps that’s not surprising. What most of us know about sharia law could be written on the back of a postage stamp and comes from snatched, fuzzy clips of people being stoned to death for adultery, having limbs lopped off for theft or being decapitated for contravention of religious custom . . . not exactly the sort of thing we expect in Edinburgh – or even Glasgow

Quietly and “under the radar”, it is alleged, the Government has already accepted some aspects of sharia law to accommodate Muslim communities . . . for example the Treasury allows for the sharia principle of interest-free loans and mortgages.

But it’s the unofficial criminal courts that have some politicians, including the Tory spokesman for homeland security Patrick Mercer, demanding a crackdown and insisting that anyone who wants to live under sharia law should ship out to live in a Muslim country

If the streets of Birmingham were strewn with old arms, battered adulterers and loose heads, he might have a point.

But common sense tells us that is not happening. Rather the “underground” sharia courts appear to be dealing with crimes such as theft, minor assault and vandalism in a way that is far superior to the British justice system and is based on centuries of culture. In other words, some Muslim communities are policing themselves very effectively, with the help of Muslim barristers, youth workers and community leaders.

It’s a perfectly acceptable system that operates throughout much of the world – the “elders” passing judgement, enforcing compensation and coming up with commonsense solutions – and one that we may have lost touch with as our process of justice becomes ever more formalised and sophisticated.

One example was that of a fight between Somali youths, one of whom claimed to have been the subject of the attack and was injured. The victim’s family told police the matter would be settled and the suspects were freed on bail. The local youth worker helped to convene a hearing before community elders in Woolwich with the victim, the perpetrators and all their male relatives present. The accused admitted the attack, apologised and were ordered to pay compensation.

Forty or 50 years ago in Scotland, if a teenager damaged a neighbour’s property the victim would grasp the offending child firmly by the ear, turn up on the parents’ doorstep and recompense would be agreed – following suitable chastisement (which was probably a good hiding).

Today the victim would be charged with assaulting the vandal, the parents would be charged if they gave him a hiding, the police and courts would be involved up to the hilt at great expense to the wider community and at the end of it all we’d have three or four criminal records and an Asbo to show for it.

You can’t help but long for the good old days – which is exactly what the Muslim community has managed to preserve.

Serious crime must be reported, investigated and dealt with officially. We can’t have kangaroo courts of any religion sanctioning violent punishments, nor can we allow customs that contravene our own laws to go unchallenged. Of course we can’t have adulterers stoned or thieves rendered limbless.

But as far as minor crime goes, the only question we should be asking is, do you have to be Muslim to seek a sharia hearing or can anyone join in?

http://news.scotsman.com

Shariya Islam Law Muslim Britain BBC

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