Tags: Sharia
The Government should be wary of its review on sharia ‘law’
Posted: Wed, 07 Feb 2018 by Sadikur Rahman
Sadikur Rahman says implementing official recommendations on sharia 'courts' would entangle civil and religious law and undermine vulnerable women's rights. The Government should instead secularise the marriage laws.
Ten years ago today Rowan Williams suggested... Read More »
Sharia reviews and the case for non-accommodation and non-regulation
Posted: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 by Sadikur Rahman
Our legal system cannot be permitted to fracture into parallel codes for different religious groups. Sadikur Rahman writes on how to avoid accommodation with sharia while also protecting the rights and interests of Muslim women.
The role of sharia law as practised... Read More »
Protecting women’s rights is the priority, but that isn’t the only legitimate concern about sharia
Posted: Thu, 03 Nov 2016 by Benjamin Jones
Gender inequality isn't the only problem with sharia councils, and non-Muslims have every right to object to the foundation of a parallel legal system in the UK, writes Benjamin Jones.
The discrimination against women inherent in sharia is its most objectionable... Read More »
Sharia, security and the church: dangers of the British Home Office inquiry
Posted: Tue, 09 Aug 2016 by Gita Sahgal
Feminist campaigners from minority women's organisations in Britain, backed by prominent women human rights advocates from all over the world, wrote an Open Letter to Theresa May, then Home Secretary, criticising the way she was intending to carry out a long-awaited... Read More »
Law Society, religion and the law: reasons to be cheerful
Posted: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 by Sadikur Rahman
The last year has seen a number of successful campaigns against attempts to impose religion in our secular legal system. Council member Sadikur Rahman looks at hopes for optimism in 2015.
When in March this year I wrote a humble blog piece criticising the Law... Read More »
The rise of political Islam in Turkey: how the West got it wrong
Posted: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 by Safak Pavey
Political Islamism has undermined the Turkish Republic's secular social order, education and legal systems and Western pundits manifestly failed to see this coming, argues Turkish opposition MP, Safak Pavey.
The end of the Cold War did not free the world of... Read More »
‘Shariafication by stealth’ in the UK
Posted: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 by Pragna Patel
The state's adoption of 'faith based' approaches to address minority issues are increasingly marginalising women from minority backgrounds and denying them the right to participate in the wider political community as equal citizens, argues Pragna Patel.
In... Read More »
Why is the Law Society promoting Islamic rules and legal services?
Posted: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 by Sadikur Rahman
After attending a seminar held by the Law Society on Islamic rules and legal services, Sadikur Rahman reflects upon the Society's desire to develop its members' knowledge of sharia law in the UK and questions how this contributes to Muslim people's freedoms.... Read More »
The Law Society should stay out of the theology business
Posted: Tue, 13 May 2014 by Sadikur Rahman
Sadikur Rahman, of the Lawyers' Secular Society, argues that the Law Society's response to criticism of its sharia guidance misses the point that the society has gone beyond its mandate and given credibility to discriminatory practices.
The Law Society's response... Read More »
Sharia law is well and truly operating in the UK – thanks to the Law Society
Posted: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 by Sadikur Rahman
Sadikur Rahman, of the Lawyers Secular Society, fears a practice note issued by the Law Society could compromise the Code of Conduct for solicitors and increase the application of Sharia law in the UK.
It was with incredulity that I saw this practice note ... Read More »
We need answers to the doubts and distrust raised by the call for sharia law
Posted: Fri, 10 May 2013 by Kris Hopkins MP
We have the privilege of living in a free society, in which the rights of the individual are not determined by their gender.
We live in an open, tolerant country, which rightly welcomes people's different faiths and religious beliefs and is diverse and benefits... Read More »
Sharia councils: unjust, unequal and consequence of failed integration policies
Posted: Wed, 01 May 2013 by Nahla Mahmoud
By Nahla Mahmoud
Personally, I wasn't surprised watching the Panorama on 'Secrets of Sharia Councils in the UK' broadcast on the BBC last week. I am aware of these dangerous practices by similar courts adopting the same Islamic constitution elsewhere outside... Read More »
Saudi religious police aren’t funny
Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2013 by Terry Sanderson
By Terry Sanderson
If you are going to have a special police division to enforce morality in a country that is already very religiously conservative, then they are bound to make frequent idiots of themselves.
In Saudi Arabia, where religious mania seems to be... Read More »
Here is why Sharia Law has no place in Britain or elsewhere
Posted: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 by Nahla Mahmoud
By Nahla Mahmoud
There are many reasons why this needs to be said, starting with a personal trigger. I was recently interviewed by Channel 4's 4thought.tv programme which was broadcast two weeks ago about my opinions on 'What does Sharia Law have to offer Britain'.... Read More »
Here is why Sharia Law has no place in Britain or elsewhere
Posted: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 by Nahla Mahmoud
By Nahla Mahmoud
There are many reasons why this needs to be said, starting with a personal trigger. I was recently interviewed by Channel 4's 4thought.tv programme which was broadcast two weeks ago about my opinions on 'What does Sharia Law have to offer Britain'.... Read More »
Muslim patrols are a sign of things to come
Posted: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 by Maajid Nawaz
By Maajid Nawaz
On the streets of Greece supporters of the far-Right Golden Dawn party patrol neighbourhoods, attacking anyone who looks like an immigrant. In Denmark a group calling itself Call to Islam has declared parts of the country to be "sharia-controlled... Read More »
Public protest against Saudi sexism in London
Posted: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 by Faiza Ahmad
The Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford have organised public protest against Saudi sexism in London following official confirmation by Saudi Arabia that it will be sending an exclusively male team to the London Olympics.
Here is the announcement from the Muslim... Read More »
Child brides and licensed rape
Posted: Tue, 03 Apr 2012 by Tessa Kendall
Women in the UK are being forced to get married with threats and violence. Children under the legal age of consent for marriage or sex are also being forced to marry - and most of them are girls.
Four hundred children were helped by the government's Forced... Read More »
The Rise of Sharia in the West
Posted: Mon, 26 Mar 2012 by Raheel Raza
The following speech was given by Raheel Razaat a meeting on "Religion, Law, Democracy and Human Rights" jointly hosted by the National Secular Society and the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) on 14 March 2012 in conjunction with the 19th session... Read More »
Executive Director’s Diary: Sharia, Civil Partnerships and Lords Reform
Posted: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 by Keith Porteous Wood
NSS Executive Director Keith Porteous Wood on a busy week of campaigning in Parliament.