Feminist Opposes Islamic Law in Canada

In 1991 Ontario province in Canada passed a law allowing the use of sharia, Islamic law, in the settling of civil matters such as divorce and monetary and domestic disputes. Since that time, six more Canadian provinces have applied for permission to implement sharia as an alternative to Canada's secular civil court system.

Now, feminist journalist and human rights activist Sally Armstrong, who just receieved the "woman of the year" award from the United Nations Development Fund for Women, an organization that purports to promote gender equality in developing societies, has come out against the use of sharia in Canada.

Just before receiving her award, Armstrong talked about her concerns. "We know Sharia is a very patriarchal law, but again it's fair to say all religious laws are patriarchal. There's not a system of religious law that I know of that's fair to women. So, how are you going to implement Sharia law? This is a law that allows a man to have four wives-- we have polygamy as part of our Criminal Code! This is a law that allows a man to beat his wife. They don't like to use the word 'beat,' they like to say 'a light tap.' Well, a light tap turns into a cleaver through your shoulder. This is a law that allows unilateral divorce action, where only a man can bring about divorce. These are in my opinion apologias for patriarchal law that is not only bad for women in Canada, it is dangerous for women in Canada." said Armstrong.

Armstrong should know-in 2002 she published a book, Veiled Threat, describing the lives of Afghani women under the Taliban. When asked why she'd written the book Armstrong responded, "I went to Afghanistan because when I heard what the Taliban were doing to the women and girls, I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to know how the women were coping, but I also wanted to know how the Taliban were getting away with it, right under the nose of the international community. Someone had to chart what really happened while the rest of the world decided to look the other way."

Technically speaking, the use of Sharia law is optional in Canada, but the fact of the matter is that pressure is put on Canadian Muslims to settle their disputes through its use. Lawyer and sharia court lawyer Syed Mumtaz Ali, who was instrumental in bringing sharia to Canada made this clear by saying, "To be a good Muslim," all Muslims must use these sharia courts."

Canada has 600,000 Muslims, many of whom live in enclaves where the outside world is practically shut out. Immigrant Muslim women who live in Canada are generally poorly educated and have little concept of their rights under Canadian law, so the potential for their abuse under sharia law is great.

It will be interesting to see how Canada's dangerous multicultural experiment with sharia plays out.