GIMME THAT OLD TIME DEMOCRACY

Shariah law debate divides Muslims (Bob Harvey, Ottawa Citizen, January 17th, 2005)

Ontario's Muslims are deeply divided over a proposal that they settle family disputes and other issues according to Islamic law.

"We want to be able to follow our Koran, and obey the law, no matter what country we live in," says Syed Mumtaz Ali, a retired Toronto lawyer who has been promoting the idea for 20 years.

"We are required to obey the Koran, and also the law of the country we live in," said Mr. Ali.

Alia Hogben, the executive director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, wants nothing to do with Muslim courts and shariah law.

"The practice of Muslim law is based on the patriarchal model, and gives men more responsibility and more rights. Theirs is the final and ultimate word.

"They also have to be obeyed and have the final say in anything."

Mr. Ali was the first lawyer in Canada to be sworn in on the Koran and established the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice to help Muslims do what other believers already do.

Ontario's Orthodox Jews go to a religious court in cases of religious divorce. Catholics go to church courts to settle a variety of civil disputes, including such issues as the firing of an employee by a Catholic corporation.

Mennonites, too, go to arbitrators from their own faith because they believe it is wrong to take disputes to the courts. Ismaili Muslims submit divorces or other disputes for arbitration by religious leaders, because of verses in the Koran such as this:

"If you fear a breach
Between them twain
Appoint arbiters,
One from his family,
And the other from hers;
If they wish for peace,
Allah will cause
Their conciliation"

However, many Muslims do not agree with Mr. Ali's concept of Islamic courts arbitrating marriage, family, and business disputes according to shariah law.

"There is a spectrum among Muslims as there is among Jews and Christians," says Ms. Hogben.

"Groups going for use of the religious law as part of their religious identity are not taking equality into account. They come from a more traditional point of view. We are focused on women and women's equality rights. There are all sorts of references in which the Koran talks about equality," said Ms. Hogben.

She said, "You can't get married as a woman, unless you have a male in the family agreeing to it. In Canada, that doesn't apply. I want my mother and father to bless my marriage, but I don't want them to arrange it."

Wahida Valiante, the vice-president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, says the Council of Muslim Wom-en's approach is "absolute nonsense."

She is a long-time social worker and says "there is a real danger in what these people are promoting. They're contradicting themselves in saying everyone must go to court."

She said if Muslim women are forced to go to provincial courts to settle marital issues, they won't have the financial means, and may not be fluent in English.

"In arbitration, she can choose who she thinks, in consultation with the other partner." Ms. Valiante said the arbitrator will speak her language, be fair, and understand her religion. "And it does not cost as much," she said.

Of course, this is just a clever front. We all know that after dark they get together as one to plot the Caliphate.