Here is a prime example of the stealth jihad in action: a “Sharia judge” in Britain uses the laws and customs of a Western pluralistic society in order to advance acceptance of an Islamic legal principle that has not hitherto been considered acceptable in that Western society. Rosa Freedman makes some good points against this in this article, and one additional point is that once the principle is accepted that English law must be adapted to accommodate Islamic law, soon the principles regardinging Islamic rule of the nation’s political structures will also be advocated — and then what will those who are pushing accommodation do?
“Dangerous liaisons,” by Rosa Freedman in The Guardian, November 19 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):
The bodies of the Knights Templar were surely spinning under their effigies last night, as someone they would have regarded as an infidel delivered a lecture within the walls of Temple Church entitled “Family Law, Minorities and legal Pluralism: Should English Law give more Recognition to Islamic Law?”.
The lecture focused on Islamic marriages and divorces in this country, with Sheikh Faiz ul-Aqtab Siddiqi (of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal) speaking candidly on many areas. One such topic was that of polygamy, and the refusal of English law to recognise such relationships. Siddiqi boldly stated:
In a jurisdiction where rights are afforded to a mistress, or many mistresses, and where there are same-sex marriages “¦ polygamous marriages should not be such an alien concept.
Siddiqi is a practising barrister, and has been involved with the process of reforming English law to accommodate Muslim cultural practices, especially within the area of family law. As a religious leader, he is at the conservative end of the spectrum. However, he is a well-respected member of a number of unifying Muslim organisations and is at the forefront of attempts to find common ground between sharia law and English law.
Later, after a question from the floor, he clarified his position as being one of confusion as to why relationships such as extra-marital affairs should be recognised under English law, and furthermore how men could be permitted to marry other men, and women other women. He argued that if such relationships were not considered abhorrent, then current attitudes towards polygamy could not, and should not, be justified.
The main problem with using this argument in favour of recognition of polygamous marriages both inside and outside this country is that of proof as to whether these marriages have been entered into willingly and freely by the women involved. No one forces a person to have an extra-marital affair, or to enter into a civil partnership, but there is widespread evidence of the forcing of women into polygamous relationships in many religions and in many parts of the world. To compare consensual relationships with forced ones, whether physical or emotional coercion is used, is completely misguided….
Read it all.