Sharia-lagstiftningen i ny brittisk offensiv

Kvinnor i niqab eller slöja, ska deras liv styras av sharia-lagar också i England? Foto: T Nydahl

Sharia-lagstiftningen - den lag som styr muslimer utifrån Koranen - tar nu ett nytt jättekliv vidare i det brittiska samhället. Det har länge funnits många oroväckande tecken - glöm inte att det sedan år tillbaka finns 85 sharia-domstolar i landet som sägs endast få döma i civilmål men som har betydligt större inflytande än så - men det brittisk press skrev om under söndagen är en kvalitativt och radikalt annan sak:

"Islamic law is to be effectively enshrined in the British legal system for the first time under guidelines for solicitors on drawing up “Sharia compliant” wills. Under ground-breaking guidance, produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude unbelievers altogether. The documents, which would be recognised by Britain’s courts, will also prevent children born out of wedlock – and even those who have been adopted – from being counted as legitimate heirs. Anyone married in a church, or in a civil ceremony, could be excluded from succession under Sharia principles, which recognise only Muslim weddings for inheritance purposes."

Det är inte svårt att vaska fram innebörden. Det kan alltså bli tillåtet att i brittisk domstol erkänna sharia´s syn på kvinnors arvsrätt; de ska förstås bara ha hälften så mycket som en man. Inte heller barn som adopterats eller barn som gift sig i kyrkan eller rådhuset ska ärva något. Finns det då någon som protesterar? Se här vad Baroness Cox säger (som parlamentariker har hon House of Lords uppdrag att beskydda kvinnor mot just den här sortens mörka, medeltida idéer):

"It was a 'deeply disturbing' development...' This violates everything that we stand for' she said; 'It would make the Suffragettes turn in their graves'."

Kanske bör man också läsa dessa avslutande stycken ur artikeln i The Sunday Telegraph:

"Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: “This guidance marks a further stage in the British legal establishment’s undermining of democratically determined human rights-compliant law in favour of religious law from another era and another culture. British equality law is more comprehensive in scope and remedies than any elsewhere in the world. Instead of protecting it, The Law Society seems determined to sacrifice the progress made in the last 500 years.”

Lady Cox said: “Everyone has freedom to make their own will and everyone has freedom to let those wills reflect their religious beliefs. But to have an organisation such as The Law Society seeming to promote or encourage a policy which is inherently gender discriminatory in a way which will have very serious implications for women and possibly for children is a matter of deep concern.”

I min bok Black Country (2012) skrev jag mycket om ämnet. Boken tar upp såväl sharialagstiftning som islamiska sedvänjor som hedersmord och kvinnlig omskärelse i brittiska Black Country (West Midlands).