In line with the introduction of burqa bans in many countries in Europe over recent years, a survey of fifteen European countries from the Pew Research Center has shown that “Most non-Muslim adults in Western Europe favor at least some restrictions on the religious clothing of Muslim women who live in their country”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Ed Husain says that the case of Anjem Choudary, the Islamist hate preacher who is due to be released from jail next month, demonstrates that the West “still has no answer to the Islamist ideal of the Caliphate”. He goes onto suggest that the discourse of the Labour leadership is fuelling Islamist extremism.
Earlier this summer, the High Court ruled that the nikah of Nasreen Akhter and Mohammed Shabaz Khan fell within the scope of the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act, and therefore that Akhter was entitled to a divorce settlement. Detailed analysis of the case and the ruling raises questions about the status of religious law in UK courts, whether there is a need to reform existing marriage laws, and about the protection of women in non-legally recognised marriages.
