Muslim couples should undergo a civil marriage as well as a religious ceremony to give women protection under the law, an independent review of sharia councils has recommended.
A report following the 18-month review called for an awareness campaign informing Muslim women of their legal rights, and said sharia councils should be subject to regulation with a code of conduct.
However, the Home Office said it would not adopt the recommendation on regulation.
The closure of sharia councils was “not a viable option”, the report concluded.
The review, led by Prof Mona Siddiqui, presented its findings to parliament on Thursday. It was launched by Theresa May in 2016 when she was home secretary to examine whether sharia law was being misused or applied in a way that was incompatible with the rule of law in the UK.
The review said nearly all those using sharia councils were women, and in the vast majority of cases, they were seeking an Islamic divorce. As a “significant number” of Muslim couples do not register their marriages under civil law, “some Muslim women have no option of obtaining a civil divorce”. [The Guardian] Read more
