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| Great White North |
| When the Koran Speaks, Will Canadian Law Bend? |
| 2004-08-05 |
| If the kimono or chicken curry eventually join the maple leaf, the hockey stick and the beaver as Canadian icons, then so be it. Thus goes the thinking of multiculturalism, the official doctrine of the government for nearly 50 years, and by now a value ingrained on the broader society. The minaret has been welcome, too, in this otherwise secular society where fewer and fewer people go to church but more than a hundred mosques have cropped up in recent years. But even here, tolerance has its limits, and the question of where to draw the line can be a tricky one, especially when an increasing number of immigrants come from societies with vastly different values. A group called the Canadian Society of Muslims is testing those boundaries by establishing the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice to apply the legal code called Shariah, based on the Koran, to settle disputes over property, inheritance, marriage and divorce. The prospect of Shariah's operating openly here has already stirred a powerful controversy centering on an uncomfortable issue for any liberal society with an expanding Muslim population that now numbers 600,000: Can a predominately Judeo-Christian society trust Islamic religious rules to protect the rights of all individuals? |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 So where are all the Canadian feminists that would be defending the rights of all Canadian women? *dead crickets rotting* |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-05 10:07:04 PM |
| #6 "Basically, Muslims live a different kind of life from the Western life, which is secular," he noted in an interview. In theory true for Orthodox Jews as well. "Everything we do is governed by religious law." For Mr. Ali, it is perfectly acceptable that a son receive twice the inheritance of a daughter and that a man have the automatic right to divorce while a woman does not. Dont recall Jewish inheritance law, but I dont think its identical to common law. Note that under Jewish law, per Biblical law a man may divorce his wife and a woman may NOT divorce her husband. The rabbis got around this by giving the rabbinic courts the right to coerce a man into divorcing his wife. This worked when Jews had no escape from rabbinal courts. Today if a Jewish man who leaves observant Judaism behind for secular society is free of Jewish courts, creating a MAJOR problem of women who cant get a rabbinic divorce. Canadians voluntarily waive their legal rights all the time, but it is the obligation of the courts to ensure that they have independent legal advice before doing so. Critics of Shariah say Muslim women would be deprived of their rights because, even after emigrating, they frequently live in isolation from the broader society and are beholden to men who routinely tell them what to do and say. Logical solution - require consultation with a lawyer before waiving of any rights, or agreeement to arbitration. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-08-05 1:16:59 PM |
#5 an extreme variation of ShariahThere's another kind? NO. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-08-05 12:57:49 PM |
| #4 Muslim arbitrators have not made a single public decision yet, but Canada would presumably never allow the stoning of adulterous women or cutting off the hand of a thief, both allowable forms of punishment in some Muslim societies under an extreme variation of Shariah. Nah, that would never happen. Until, of course, it does. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-05 12:53:00 PM |
| #3 If two private parties have a private dispute (i. e. civil, not criminal) who cares how they reach a settlement? Agreed the life of an immigrtant woman can be tough, with or without ADR using sharia. But that's an independent issue. |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-08-05 12:48:34 PM |
| #2 "Basically, Muslims live a different kind of life from the Western life, which is secular," then stay in your own frickin muslim shithole country! |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-08-05 12:34:59 PM |
| #1 Can a predominately Judeo-Christian society trust Islamic religious rules to protect the rights of all individuals? Hmm . . . let me think . . . NO! They don't like the laws, they can go to some Islamic dump. They don't want to, they can follow our laws. That simple. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-08-05 12:07:40 PM |