Separate but Equal

... as long as you're a man.

ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

The inability to pass judgment on value systems has led to this.

Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons.

The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.

It turns out that for the last 100 years, the British have allowed similar Jewish courts to operate. Since it would be evidence of bias to not allow the Islamic courts the same authority, they now have partial Sharia in Britain.

One of the basic tenets of modern liberalism is that no value system is better than any other. You cannot pass judgment on a culture. You may disagree with them, but they have a right to live their lives the way they want. Who are you to say what is right and what is wrong?

That's above your pay grade.