Sharia law comes to Ontario, Muslim women lead protests

Under the 1991 Arbitration Act, the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice will begin tribunals of marriage, divorce and family issues later this year, creating a two-tier justice system in Canada. The British government rejected a similar proposal from the British Muslim community earlier, stating that Britain was a nation with one justice system that applied equally to all.

The Canadian Council of Muslim Women has vowed to fight the decision, feeling that it discriminates against Muslim women and subjects them to a highly sexist and chauvinistic legal system that other Canadian women are not held to. While Sharia law varies from country to country, it should be noted that no Islamic country holds women as the equals of men.

Protest rises over Islamic law in Ontario

“We’ve had a flood of e-mails from people, asking `How can we help?’” says Alia Hogben, president of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, whose 900 members come from a variety of Islamic sects.

They were outraged that Muslim women could be coerced into taking part in sharia tribunals or face family and community ostracism — or worse.

“When you come to Canada, you are a human being with full rights,” says Jonathan Schrieder, a Toronto civil litigation lawyer. Allowing sharia here — even a “Canadianized” version, as its proponents claim — “will subject Muslim women to a huge injustice.”