[al-fatiha-news] Digest Number 420 (fwd)

Hey Folks

Anyone hear about this?

Any Canadians on the list with firsthand experience/perspective?

Moo  :)

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 5:24 AM +0000
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: [al-fatiha-news] Digest Number 420

There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Article: Muslim Law to be Used in Some Disputes in Canada
           From: Al-Fatiha - LGBTIQ Muslims <[email protected]>


________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
   Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 10:49:05 -0800 (PST)
   From: Al-Fatiha - LGBTIQ Muslims <[email protected]>
Subject: Article: Muslim Law to be Used in Some Disputes in Canada

  From the Washington Post / Reuters - January 3, 2004

') ;  document.writeln('') ;  document.writeln( '' );//-->  Muslim Law to
Be Used in Some Disputes in Canada

By Amran Abocar
Reuters
Saturday, January 3, 2004; Page B07

TORONTO -- Some Canadian Muslims will soon be able to use an Islamic
tribunal to arbitrate civil disputes, bringing Muslim sharia law to a
largely secular society and raising concerns about the extent to which it
might be applied.  Canada's Islamic Institute of Civil Justice was formed
in October and plans to begin arbitrating family and business disputes
using Muslim personal law early this year in Ontario. Eventually,
operations will be expanded across Canada.  Since arbitrators' rulings can
be enforced by the courts, the development has raised concerns that sharia
will in effect be endorsed by Canada's secular courts.

While Muslim leaders insist that decisions are binding only if all parties
agreed to the arbitration, critics say people may be pressured to take part
in the process.

"It involves inheritance, divorces and family matters, and the sharia law
is a distinct disadvantage to Muslim women, and they will be pressured.
There's no doubt about this," said Sheila Ayala of the Humanist Association
of Canada, which advocates separating church and state.

Sharia is a code of law based primarily on the Koran as well as the
teachings of the prophet Muhammad and is meant to govern all aspects of
Muslim life, including prayer, fasting and even finance, in which interest
payments are banned.

Individual Muslims adopt sharia to varying degrees according to personal
belief, and many Muslim countries have instituted elements of sharia as
law. For example, Saudi Arabia, which follows strict Islamic law, executes
murderers, rapists and drug smugglers, usually by public beheading.

In Canada, where the new plan would not cover criminal offenses, objections
have ranged from concerns about institutionalizing sharia to the more
radical perception that women might be stoned in the streets for adultery.

For example, critics say the tribunal could decree unequal inheritance
settlements for women because sharia states that a son inherits twice as
much as a daughter.

But Muslim and non-Muslim experts say the worries are overblown. To
complain about sharia hints at racism against a community that feels under
siege after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, lawyers said.

"It is being sensationalized. It is part of the general hysteria that's out
there since 9/11, the Talibanization of [North] America," said Irfan Syed,
chairman of the Toronto-based Muslim Lawyers Association. "The mechanisms
are all there for oversight, and it is unfortunate that people are . . .
leaping to conclusions."

Rahim Khan, co-founder of the institute, also dismisses the concerns but,
with an eye to public perception, insisted that the word "civil" be
inserted into the original name, Institute of Islamic Justice.

"There should be no concern. We're dealing with Canadian civil law with
minor exceptions here and there," Khan said. "Muslim personal law is
accepted all over the world. Canada is a bit peculiar; we don't seem to
understand it."

Khan said the organization will help ease the backlog in the civil courts
and will not deal with criminal matters.

The sudden public interest -- news of the group's plans has made headlines
in Canada -- has surprised some Muslims who say they have already used
sharia in divorce arbitration and other disputes. The institute, with about
50 members, said it wants to formalize that process.

Ontario and other Canadian provinces have long allowed the use of
arbitrators in civil disputes, whether religious or not. A similar system
of dispute resolution exists in the Jewish community, where a couple
obtaining a divorce from a rabbi can have it recognized by the courts.
Other religious matters can be taken before rabbinical courts.

"In truly multicultural countries, this is quite common," said Ed Morgan, a
law professor at the University of Toronto. "It's a legitimate way to give
religious communities some autonomy within the scope of our law. The two
can exist because the Canadian courts have an ultimate supervisory
capacity."

The federal government has said it has "no position" on the issue, as
provinces set laws on property and civil rights in their own jurisdictions
as long as they do not breach the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the
country's supreme law.

But that is not enough for critics, who oppose having Canadian courts and
police, effectively, enforcing sharia.

"Nobody thinks the extreme sections of the sharia law will be carried out,
like stoning people and cutting off hands," said the Humanist Association's
Ayala. "But still, if Canada accepts this, it means it will give
credibility to the sharia law around the world."



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes

[This message contained attachments]



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________




------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links

To visit your group on the web, go to:
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/al-fatiha-news/

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
 [email protected]

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
 http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
------------------------------------------------------------------------



---------- End Forwarded Message ----------