Rogue behaviour: the Shariah Councils causing disruption in Muslim family life

Background

I have written on many occasions about the continuing need for Shariah Councils in the UK.

They perform a unique service, in that they are established with the intention of serving the needs of the Muslim community in resolving family disputes. They employ methods of arbitration and dispute resolution to try and achieve this, with varying degrees of success and various levels of competency.

The competence, transparency, Islamic credibility and civil legal compliance of the process rests solely on the people who run the Shariah Council. 

Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with classically trained and qualified Islamic scholars (Ulema) who have been nothing but a pleasure to work with and who; through their God-fearing conduct; compassion; client care; and application of Islamic principles, as well as their knowledge and adherence to the laws and customs of the UK, have been the best ambassadors of the correct operation of Islamic Shariah Councils in a non-Muslim country.

Put simply, there are Shariah Councils out there who are good and who are run by Ulema who know what they are doing.

However, the opposite is also unfortunately true.

The Problem

Sadly, there are Shariah Councils out there which are not good at all. They are set up as a cynical money-making exercise by people who run the processes and procedures of their Shariah Council according to their whims and fancy. There is no consistent process that is applied and, in some cases, the process is heavily skewed so that all the wife has to do is simply make an application, and provided she has paid the fee, it is only a matter of time before she is presented with her Faskh or dissolution of Islamic marriage.

Recently, I was shocked to find a Shariah Council in the West Midlands area which had on its website a ‘Premium Service’ and a ‘Super-fast Service’ for a Muslim woman to obtain a Talaq, Khula or Faskh. Speed must never be confused with expediency, and speed has never been linked to the execution of a fair and just judicial process and so the ‘Premium Service’ and a ‘Super-Fast Service’ as stated on this Council’s website concerned me greatly. Upon further interaction with this  rogue Shariah Council, it quickly became clear that they routinely refused to provide the respondent husband with a copy of the applicant wife’s application and the statement of allegations made by the wife against him. To compound this, they would also routinely contact the husband by way of repeated telephone calls to try to pressure and coerce the husband into pronouncing Talaq, despite not providing him with a written copy of the wife’s allegations. Finally, to add insult to injury, if the husband stood up to this Shariah Council in any way, the Council would simply dissolve the marriage by way of Faskh without even calling a meeting with the husband.

By way of background, when a husband refuses to pronounce Talaq, the wife has the option to apply to a Shariah Council in the UK so that they may assist in the resolution of the matter. This may occur in a number of ways and one of those ways is the marriage being dissolved by way of Faskh if the Council is satisfied that specific Shar’ee criteria have been met. One of which is establishing contact with the respondent husband and providing him with a copy of the applicant wife’s application statement, so that he may respond if he so wishes. 

Informing the Respondent or Defendant of allegations that may be being made against him/her is a principle of natural justice.  It is the bedrock of any coherent and just legal system, without which human beings would be free to make any decision that they wanted in matters which affected third parties without consideration of any principles of fairness and justice.  Put simply, it would be a ‘kangaroo court’ and corruption would follow such decisions.

When I learnt that this Shariah Council refused to provide the husband with a copy of the allegations made against him, I became very concerned. It seemed to me that Councils like these were undoing the good work that has been carried out by established and respected Shariah Councils over the years simply for the sake of making money.  More worryingly, they were damaging the reputation of sincere and honest God-fearing Ulema who had dedicated their lives in running good Shariah Councils which adhered to the principles of civil and Islamic law, and thus providing help and guidance to Muslim families in Great Britain who were experiencing the traumatic episode of marital breakdown.

The impact of these ‘rogue’ Shariah Councils cannot be overstated. If they continue to act as they are, without following correct Islamic procedure and protocol, they will incorrectly inform the blameless Muslim women who utilise their services that their Islamic Nikah has been dissolved when it may still subsist. The consequences upon children of the marriage; Iddah; fulfilment of rights and duties; and the ability of the wife to remarry are of huge significance if an incorrect or invalid decision has been made by a Shariah Council.

The Answer…?

This practice needs to be rooted so that these ‘rogue’ Councils do not have the opportunity of being chosen by innocent men and women to deal with their family and marital problems. I do not say this out of any vindictive intention, rather to inform Muslim men and women to stay away from these Councils so that their lives are not ruined by people who really do not know what they are doing.

It is sensible for the relevant stakeholders in this process to now seriously consider working together to adopt a ‘Code of Good Practice’ so that the patrons who use the services of any Shariah Council can expect a reasonably competent level of service with the correct compliance to both Islamic and civil legal rules and protocols.

Ultimately, this is about helping members of our society who are going through what is for most people, one of the most stressful and emotionally fraught periods of their life. If Shariah Councils can provide a credible, competent and transparent service to these people to help them move on, then there is no reward greater than the prayers of those people.

For more information, please contact Siddique Patel or you can call him on 07545 543 010