Sharia councils can be the only route to divorce for Muslim women if their religious marriages are not recognised by law ALAMYAlmost two thirds of Muslim women who marry in the UK are not legally wed because their Sharia ceremonies are not registered in law. The percentage is rising, with estimates suggesting there are as many as 100,000 people in unregistered marriages among the 2.7 million Muslims in the UK. Civil registration — as with all other marriages in Britain — would provide couples, particularly women, with the protections and rights of family laws, ensuring that they face fewer “discriminatory practices,” a recent report commissioned by the government has concluded. The independent review into the use of Sharia — Islamic law — by Sharia councils was commissioned by Theresa May when she was home secretary in May 2016 and chaired by Mona Siddiqui, a professor of Islamic and…

Source: The Times February 14, 2018 21:33 UTC