Author:
Publication: WorldNetDaily.com
Date: November 28, 2003
URL: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35850
Judges will give legal sanction
to disputes between Muslims
Canadian judges soon will be enforcing
Islamic law, or Sharia, in disputes between Muslims, possibly paving the
way to one day administering criminal sentences, such as stoning women
caught in adultery.
Muslims are required to submit to
Sharia in Muslim societies but are excused in nations where they live as
a minority under a non- Muslim government.
Canada, however, is preparing for
its 1 million-strong Muslim minority to be under the authority of a Sharia
system enforced by the Canadian court system, according to the Canadian
Law Times.
Muslim delegates at a conference
in Etobicoke, Ont., in October elected a 30-member council to establish
the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice.
The institute is classified in Islamic
law as a Darul-Qada, or judicial tribunal. Its bylaws are scheduled to
be drafted and approved by Dec. 31.
Cases will be decided by a Muslim
arbitrator, but the local secular Canadian court will be the enforcer.
One of the obstacles to establishing
the system, the Law Times said, has been the Muslim communities' lack of
unity and organizational strength. Muslims in Canada come from many different
countries and different schools of Islam. Also, there are few Islamic legal
scholars, known as ulama, in North America, which are essential to adjudicating
complex issues.
"It seems as if the community was
looking forward to something like this," says organizer B. Husain Bhayat,
according to the Law Times. "If all groups are represented, with hard work
and the unity we saw here, we will have no difficulty going forward."
The two main streams of Islam, Sunni
and Shi'ite, were represented at the conference, along with imams and leaders
of organizations.
