Secrets of Britain's Sharia Councils Panorama

Women in Britain are begging Islamic scholars

to release them from unhappy, even violent marriages.

I felt I should be ashamed of being there

and how dare I have the audacity to seek a divorce

and that I was bringing shame onto my culture.

These women are afraid to be identified

for fear of their own community.

Some have experienced domestic violence

ignored by religious courts.

Even with the violence, they just totally disregarded me.

Tonight, Panorama goes undercover

to investigate what's really happening

in Britain's sharia councils.

And we find an Islamic judge telling a woman

to ask the man abusing her if it's her fault.

OK. How can the Islamic Sharia Council help you?

In this terraced house in east London,

Islamic scholars grant divorces sharia style.

And one more question...

Around 50 cases, mainly marital disputes,

are heard at Leyton Sharia Council every month,

90% of them brought by women from all over the country.

With an Islamic marriage, it's easier for a man to divorce.

For many women in Britain, the only way is through these councils.

This couple don't want to be identified.

There's, you know, so many things between him and me.

He says something else, I say something else,

then we are totally different, you know.

We can't stand each other.

They've been coming here for a year. The wife wants a divorce.

The husband is refusing.

Their case is being heard by the most senior scholar,

Dr Suhaib Hasan.

The main thing is, can you live together now

because of all these disputes and, er...

-You are saying that he was abusing you verbally, huh?

-Yeah.

I never ever did that. Never.

Never ever. Never ever accuse, abuse or beat or anything. Nothing.

-That's you saying.

-We never argue.

-That's you saying!

Not what I'm saying. You say, "I didn't do it."

BOTH SHOUT AT ONCE

The wife says her husband refuses to work,

fails to support her and ignores the children.

-You have three kids.

-Yes.

Nine years, eight years, three years.

-They need a father.

-I'm not saying they don't need a father...

But if you are separated, then what is going to happen?

They can't see him regularly.

They see him every Saturday.

Only for three hours.

So you can have six hours. I don't mind.

You can have six hours.

-When he was at home, how much time did you give them?

-All the time...

All the time sleeping, all the time drinking tea...

-All the time helping you...

-"Go to your room! Go to your room!

"Don't make noise, I can't bear it." That was your time?

You took them out anywhere? No!

When Dr Hasan sends the husband out,

the wife breaks down and begs for a divorce.

-She came to my place!

-What's the point?

When everything is finished, he's regretting, what's the point?

I've got nothing to do with him. I don't feel anything for him.

SHE SOBS

I can't do it any more! I hate him!

He ruined my life!

For this woman, a sharia divorce is the only option

because the couple only had a sharia marriage, not a British civil one,

Another month. It's been a year already,

and Leyton Sharia Council still isn't granting this woman a divorce.

Leyton is one of Britain's oldest and most active Islamic councils.

They cannot enforce their judgments,

but places like this control the lives

of many Muslim women in Britain today.

We try to facilitate for the Muslim community,

something which they badly need

because there is no other...

institution which can provide such services.

So we are providing it.

We are not here just to issue divorces.

but we want to mediate first.

We try to save the marriages first.

We don't want the break-up of the marriages a lot.

So when the people come to us, we try to reconcile them.

But Islamic rulings given here

aren't always in the interests of the women concerned

and can run counter to British law.

I set off around the country to find out more

about Britain's sharia councils.

At King's Cross station, I met Baroness Cox.

She's introduced a private members' bill in the House of Lords

to make it an offence for sharia councils to set themselves up

as courts giving judgments.

We were on our way to Leeds.

If one looks at the way in which the system of the sharia courts work

and the way it's believed to work by people in those communities,

it is operating like a parallel legal system in this country,

and in a democracy, you can't have two legal systems.

There has to be one rule for all.

No-one knows how many sharia councils there are in Britain

in mosques and houses.

One report estimates at least 85.

It probably wouldn't be safe.

Baroness Cox has come to Leeds to visit Karma Nirvana,

a charity which runs a helpline for victims

of honour-based violence and forced marriage.

And with domestic violence as well...

A significant number of women who call complain about sharia councils.

The provisions of many of the sharia courts are so discriminatory.

We've heard a lot of evidence of women who are really suffering

as a result of the rulings of sharia courts,

of domestic violence being condoned, differential access to divorce,

issues to do with the care of children,

and it is essential that something is done about it.

Sharia councils say their main concern

is saving marriages through reconciliation.

But in Leeds, I met a woman who had to battle

with Leyton Sharia Council for ten years,

long after her marriage had broken down

and her husband was back in Pakistan.

Everybody around me told me that I still needed an Islamic divorce

and that's what I firmly believed

in order to move on with my life.

Farah got a civil divorce from the British courts within six months,

but Leyton had a different approach.

They did pressure me to go back to him,

even though I'd shown him my civil divorce,

that there's no going back from this because I haven't seen him.

It must have been about six years at that point.

Not only did Leyton want Farah to go back to her husband,

she was bringing up her young daughter alone,

but she says they tried to interfere in child access,

which they're not allowed to do.

They still wanted a condition

where I would, upon my own expenses,

take her back to Pakistan and allow him to see her.

And I refused to do this.

They said, "If you refuse to do this, then we can't help you."

And I felt extremely frustrated at that point.

A barrister specialising in family law got involved in Farah's case.

Charlotte Proudman has been to many hearings at sharia councils

and is worried about what she's seen.

They're totally unregulated, unauthorised.

There's no accountability.

And many of them are not operating in accordance with UK law.

Unfortunately, they are ruling on contact matters, residence disputes.

They certainly don't act in accordance with UK law,

where the paramount importance is the child's welfare.

Leyton says it doesn't get involved with children,

but sharia rulings on such matters have featured on their website.

One Islamic school of thought decrees

a father can take custody of a boy from the age of seven,

a girl as young as nine.

When Farah refused to agree to Leyton's demand

to give her husband in Pakistan access rights,

she says her divorce ground to a halt.

This is definitely what delayed it,

because they did say point blank,

"Well, we can't give you this, then, because you must sign this."

They're not supposed to make rulings with regard to children.

-Did you know that?

-I didn't know that at the time.

That's why I felt really...

..powerless to do anything.

She was held to ransom.

Unless she agreed to her husband having contact with her daughter,

they wouldn't issue her with a sharia divorce,

which is why the whole process took some ten years.

When Leyton finally agreed to issue a divorce certificate,

Farah decided it wasn't worth pursuing any more.

We've heard of even more worrying divorce cases

handled by Leyton Sharia Council

where children and domestic violence are involved.

This woman told peers at the House of Lords

about her application to Leyton for a sharia divorce.

It was an ordeal in itself.

A terrible experience.

Sonia had already been granted a divorce by a UK court

because of her husband's extreme violence.

He'd started beating me up.

Pulling my hair, punching me, kicking me

and then eventually, he chucked me down the stairs.

I was unconscious for I don't know how long.

Sonia's husband hit their young son, too,

so the British court ruled

he could only have indirect contact with their children.

But Leyton Sharia Council told Sonia

she'd have to give the children up to him.

I couldn't bear the thought of such a violent person having my children,

so this came as a major shock to me.

But what was even more shocking

was when I explained this to them on the phone,

why he shouldn't have access to the children,

their reaction was, "Well, you can't go against what Islam says."

Sonia stood her ground.

Eventually, she got Leyton Sharia Council

to drop their demand she give up her children.

I knew that they couldn't rule over the Queen's law.

So this is why this helped me majorly

to win my battle with the sharia eventually.

Almost two years to get my divorce.

Their attitude was absolutely diabolical.

When we asked Leyton Sharia Council about Sonia and Farah's cases,

they told us that with regard to children, if a marriage ends,

then the question of access to both parents is crucial.

Safety is paramount, they say,

and any UK court order must be followed.

In east London, we'd seen the public face

of one of the country's main sharia councils

serving the Muslim community.

Leyton say they don't advise women who have been abused

to return to their husbands.

But given the experience of the two women we'd talked to,

we wanted to see what advice Leyton would give

a vulnerable female client.

We sent an undercover reporter to consult Dr Hasan.

Her story, that her husband was hitting her,

was based on ones we'd heard.

The Government says domestic violence is a crime

which should be reported to the police.

Dr Hasan sits on a dais above the woman, like in a court.

He wonders if she's done anything to provoke this treatment.

Dr Hasan suggests the woman involves her mother

and brings her husband here.

After half an hour,

Dr Hasan's made clear his view of involving the police.

He advises our undercover reporter to have counselling

with his wife at Leyton.

She has a TV show where she gives advice to Muslim women.

We've covered Mrs Hasan's face in line with her religious beliefs.

Her reaction to the abuse is to wonder if the woman is at fault.

Our reporter asks Mrs Hasan what to do about the physical abuse.

When we asked Leyton Sharia Council

about what we'd filmed secretly here,

they said with domestic violence,

it may be essential to involve the police and other authorities,

but that can be a step with irrevocable consequences.

We asked the chief crown prosecutor for the north west

to look at our secret footage.

Nazir Afzal is a Muslim who has taken the national lead for the CPS

in tackling honour-based and domestic violence.

Mr Afzal, what's your reaction

to what you've seen here at Leyton Sharia Council?

I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised.

Most of them are fine, but there are some, clearly, like this one,

who are putting women at risk.

Um...and doing so for ridiculous reasons.

Namely, that they are somehow responsible

for the abuse they are suffering.

The Government's attitude is that domestic violence is a crime,

-and yet they seem to be glossing over this.

-Absolutely.

What I've just witnessed, is...so dangerous

because if there is early intervention,

we know that people's lives can be saved,

they can be spared significant harm.

Where people are deterred from seeking help and support,

regrettably, many of them go on to suffer a lifetime of cruelty

and significant harm.

Across the country, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford,

where there are large Muslim communities,

there are now sharia councils.

Some seem to discriminate against women in different ways.

They're required to produce two male witnesses,

and it costs a woman at least £400 to get an Islamic divorce,

while a man can pay nothing.

Under sharia law,

a woman must hand over all her dowry before a divorce can be granted.

But increasingly, women here have to rely on sharia councils.

Many Muslim women are actually just obtaining an Islamic marriage

rather than a civil marriage.

They're not aware that there is a distinction.

Once they have a sharia marriage, that's not recognised under UK law,

which means, when it comes to divorce,

they're not entitled to any rights that a married couple would be.

Having just a sharia marriage

means a man can take more than one wife

because he's not married under UK law.

And it puts women at a financial disadvantage.

For example, the house, money, financial assets -

they're not automatically entitled to half

or even a small percentage of that.

I had come to Bristol to meet a woman,

a Muslim convert who says she was exploited

because she only had a sharia marriage.

Why didn't you have a British civil ceremony?

He didn't want to. He said it wasn't necessary.

Cara met her husband at university,

but when her marriage broke down after several years,

she was very vulnerable.

He abused me in every way possible that you can think of.

Like mentally and emotionally.

I was completely controlled by him.

He was completely obsessed with money.

He made me hand over all my earnings,

my student loans, my grants.

When Cara found her husband had been bringing prostitutes to their house,

she ran away and was admitted to a refuge.

I explained what was happening and they confirmed that it was abuse.

I was in an abusive relationship.

Cara contacted Leyton Sharia Council to get a divorce

and sent them a long email detailing all the abuse she had suffered.

There was no compassion, there was no empathy,

there was absolutely nothing.

It was like they were just treating me as a statistic.

And then to actually ask me to pay £400

when women like me are left with nothing.

Then, Cara says, Leyton informed her

she would have to come to London with her husband

for the council to decide.

They were saying that we had to go and have arbitration.

I thought it was shocking.

I couldn't believe it.

I thought, surely they can see that women who are going through this

can't be forced to meet up with someone who's abusing them?

Cara refused to go to Leyton.

She never got her sharia divorce.

Her husband kept the two houses they'd bought

and gave her back far less than she'd contributed to the marriage.

If you added up everything I handed over to him, it was about 80,000.

But he didn't give me that in the end.

Because you only had a sharia marriage.

Yeah. That was why he did it like that.

Where there are allegations of domestic violence,

Leyton Sharia Council told us

they can ensure that husband and wife

do not meet during the mediation.

Leyton also told us that in cases of financial hardship,

their nominal fee can be reduced or dropped.

And in the last seven months,

this has happened with about a third of applicants.

Leyton in London is one of the main sharia councils.

But there are some in other parts of Britain

which have also meddled in legal issues

which should be matters for the UK courts alone.

I travelled across the Pennines to Dewsbury.

In an old pub here, there is now a sharia council.

Even when I was pregnant with my first child, he used to hit me.

This woman, another victim of domestic violence,

tried to get an Islamic divorce from Dewsbury Sharia Council.

I wasn't allowed to see my friends.

I wasn't allowed to do anything.

So I was living in constant fear.

Ayesha and her children had injunctions against her husband.

He'd been in prison for the violence.

But Dewsbury told her she'd have to go with him for mediation.

They wanted me to go there and have a meeting with my ex face to face.

I said, "I can't do that because he's not even allowed near my house

"and because I'm frightened, I can't face him."

And you had an injunction against your husband

and they still wanted you to meet with him?

Yes. They didn't take any notice.

They refused to look at any of that documentation.

They don't take any court orders in the UK seriously,

which is why they mediate in situations

where women are in fear of their lives, and they have injunctions

to prohibit their husband from coming anywhere near them.

Only when Charlotte Proudman took up Ayesha's case

did Dewsbury agree to see her without her husband.

But Charlotte was not allowed into the hearing.

Ayesha faced five men alone without legal representation.

I wished there was a woman there.

I wasn't even making eye contact, to be honest, with them.

I was just looking at the floor.

I know that I can't trust them because of what they did.

Ayesha waited two years to get a sharia divorce.

Meanwhile, her husband had already moved to Pakistan and married again.

Dewsbury Sharia Council told us

they couldn't comment on individual cases,

but they're aware of the standing and gravity of UK court orders

and would never advise clients to breach them.

They can arrange separate meetings on different days to avoid this.

When there's violence, should they be mediating?

No. The best advice we give

across communities, across government

is mediation is not something

you should be considering in this situation.

Um...this is not a family relationship squabble.

This is violence.

And violence leads to more violence and leads to significant harm.

This is the last thing they should be contemplating.

The previous government gave up

on its attempt to investigate sharia councils.

They couldn't get proper access to them.

This government's view is existing legislation

already deals with the issues raised in Baroness Cox's bill.

It does appear as though it is perhaps being politically correct.

It doesn't want to be deemed to be Islamophobic.

Without government support, her bill stalled.

But she isn't giving up and will re-table the bill

to tackle sharia councils in the new session of Parliament.

It is a system which, in its gender discrimination

causing women such suffering, is utterly incompatible

with our country's values of promoting gender equality

and one rule for all.

It is time to draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough.

Our investigation has shown that one important sharia council

actively discourages women complaining of abuse

from seeking help from the authorities.

Women from minorities are significantly less likely

to report the abuse they're suffering.

We want them to realise that's not the place to go to.

Where they can go to are the women's groups that provide support

and the police, who can do something

to ensure this doesn't happen in the future.

The women we met finally freed themselves.

They want action against some sharia councils,

but not the Islamic code itself.

They need to be held accountable.

They need to be investigated.

They need to be made aware of what they're doing is wrong.

It's not to do with the sharia.

I believe it's the way it's being run. The system.

The way the system's being run is a sham.

I really think that they were violating the codes of Islam

by treating me, because I'm a woman, in this way.

Whatever British law decrees,

as long as the Government allows a parallel legal system

to exist in practice,

there'll be other women condemned by religious councils

to miserable lives.

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