Source: www.keighleynews.co.uk

Fears about the role of Muslim Sharia councils – raised by Keighley’s MP in Parliament this week – have received a mixed response from Muslim spokesmen in Keighley.

Kris Hopkins spoke out during Tuesday’s debate, asking for a government assurance Sharia councils would not secure legal jurisdiction in the UK.

Mujeeb Rahman, of the Keighley Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said his community was completely in favour of having one system of secular law treating all equally.

But Abid Hussain, senior vice-president of the Keighley Muslim Association, said he agreed with the Bradford Council of Mosques’ view Sharia councils should be formalised. He added British Muslims deserved the same legal protection as all other UK faiths.

Sharia is the Islamic religion’s moral code and legislation system, which addresses crime, politics, economics and personal matters, such as diet and prayer. Its primary sources are the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, and the example set by Islam’s prophet, Mohammed.

Mr Rahman said: “As Ahmadiyya Muslims, we support secularism based on absolute justice in which everyone is equal. If you start going down the Sharia law route, you’re opening up Pandora’s Box.”

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