David Hodson on International Family Law: Features of Islamic family law

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies held an informative evening presentation on 27 October on Islamic family law and practice given by Aina Khan a family lawyer with a distinctive Islamic based practice at Russell Jones and Walker. She spoke about the challenges with Islamic families in England today and the interrelationship of the civil law and Islamic faith. There were extensive questions and discussion. Some statistics were very revealing.

Aina said that there are approximately 2 million Muslims in England of which 1 million are in London and of which 70% of those in England are presently eligible for legal aid. This is a substantial area of demand on public services. Many look to the Sharia Councils for help and 95% of applicants are women seeking rights in respect of domestic relationships. Aina thought anecdotally that in some areas as many as 80% of recent Muslim "marriages" are not in fact registered under English civil law although the couple and their community...

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