.... ''The fault line here was the perception that Muslim community can't and does not want to integrate … a lot of the submissions say that.
''We wanted to debunk some of the myths about multiculturalism, it does not mean Sharia law in Australia. It's time we went back to describing people by their ethnic origin as opposed to their faith, we've got to change our language.''
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils told the inquiry that Muslims should be allowed to marry, divorce and conduct financial transactions under the principles of Sharia law.
Then council president Ikebal Patel said all Australians would benefit if Islamic laws were adopted as mainstream legislation but agreed the word sharia could invoke notions of a male-dominated legal code. [The Canberra Times] Read more
