Letter, May 22, 2004

The blanket call to stop Muslims from applying their religious law in civil disputes amounts to nothing short of religious discrimination. Those opposing the application of sharia laws hold a very narrow understanding. Other religious and ethnic communities have been using their own personal laws to settle their civil disputes for years. No one raised their eyebrows then.

Why target Muslims alone? Are Muslims the children of a lesser God or are they second-class citizens in Canada?

Women are discriminated against and abused even in Western countries and, at many times, they do not report spousal abuse to the authorities. Only 10 per cent of sexual crimes against women are reported in Canada. Are the opponents of sharia going to launch a movement to scrap the Western and Canadian judicial systems as well?

A part of the blame for creating this shariaphobia also goes to those spearheading the sharia campaign in Ontario for creating confusion by making reckless statements. Contrary to the claims of Syed Soharwardy, sharia laws can be and have been customized according to country-specific contexts. The application of sharia laws differs from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia to India. In India for example, only Muslim family laws have been incorporated into the mainstream judicial system whereas the criminal laws have been left out. No one has been stoned to death for adultery and no hands have been cut off for stealing.

Sharia laws when applied without any cultural or ethnic baggage are just and non-discriminatory. Contrary to the widespread false perception, women have the right to divorce (when a provision is made for it in the prenuptial contract) and there have been many instances where the custody of children has been awarded to the mother if it was deemed to be in the best interests of the child.

Canadian Muslims have a unique opportunity to develop a trendsetting approach to the application of sharia in multicultural settings in a globalized world which is in sync with Islamic principles as well the foundational and legal principles of specific countries. Unfortunately, due to a lack of genuine scholarship, sectarian differences and the current wave of worldwide Islamophobia that doesn't seem to be a possibility in the near future.