.... The decisions of the council’s hearings – Sheikh Haddad insists they are not courts – are widely respected in the Muslim community. Except in cases where a spouse, usually the wife, has been abandoned, both parties agree in advance to accept the findings.
But he acknowledges that uncertainty about the legal status of the proceedings was a cause for concern. “It is one of our biggest problems that there is no formal recognition of Muslim personal law within the judicial system,” he said.
“But we are talking to politicians and to people in the churches in the hope that Britain will make some accommodation for our work. That would make it easier for the legal system generally, and easier for us.” [The National] Read more
