Is Islamic law putting women at risk? BBC Panorama has uncovered new evidence on how some Sharia councils in Britain are pressurising Muslim women to remain in abusive marriages. Around 85 councils operating in houses and mosques across the country were filmed undercover by the BBC and revealed sharia council-run-courts are ruling in favour of women and children staying or meeting with men who have been found to be abusive.
Although Sharia law has no formal place in the UK’s legal system, the investigation found courts in London which practice it making rulings on domestic and marital issues according to Islamic law, despite them appearing to contradict English family law.
The rulings are not legally binding, but those women who were subject to them felt pressure to follow them as part of their religious beliefs or on advice from family and the community.
In one particular case filmed in Leeds by a BBC reporter for the documentary filmed, an Islamic scholar from a Sharia council rules in favour of a reportedly violent father over a custody dispute.
The woman, known as Sonia, had already been granted a civil divorce in a British court, which also imposed that her husband would only have limited access to their children.
But when Sonia approached the Leyton Islamic Sharia Council in east London for a religious divorce, the Islamic scholar ruled that the children should be placed with their father.
There is an Islamic school of thought that favours the father taking custody of children aged seven for boys and nine for girls, in the event of divorce.
When the scholar was informed of the domestic violence she and her children had suffered from the man, he advised her only to go to the police as a “very, very last resort.”
Sonia told the reporter: “I could not bear the thought of such a violent person having my children. What was even more shocking was when I explained to Leyton why he shouldn’t have access to the children their reaction was - well you can’t go against what Islam says.” After standing her ground, the Leyton judges dropped their ruling.