By Asian Pacific News Service

The Jewish community has its rabbinical courts called Beit Din's.

People of the First Nations have their sentencing circles.

Now Canada's Muslim community is moving ahead with plans to structure Sharia tribunals where family disagreements and inheritance, business and divorce issues will be judged on Islamic law based on the Koran.

Under the proposal, the tribunals will not deal with criminal matters and will have to respect all provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Cases that go before the Muslim arbitrators must have the voluntary assent of all parties involved.

While the plan for Sharia courts in Canada is well underway in Ontario with the establishment of the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice to train arbitrators in Sharia and Canadian civil law, the move is now taking root in British Columbia.

"Muslims living in non-Muslim countries are regarded as "Bedouins". As such "a Muslim is bound to regulate his conduct according to the laws of Islam, wherever he may be." - Syed Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims

The B.C. Muslim Association, which represents 56,000 B.C. Muslims plans to discuss Sharia courts for the province at a board meeting in two weeks.

"It seems like a good idea and we plan to discuss and study it at our board's next meeting," president Daud Ismail told The Asian Pacific Post.

He said the association will likely form a special committee to oversee the plan before approaching B.C.'s Attorney General.

Sikander Shah, the B.C. regional director of the Canadian Islamic Congress said the issue is on the agenda for the June board meeting.

Wahida Valiante national vice-chair of the Canadian Islamic Congress said she expects to see Islamic courts settling family, matrimonial and civil disputes across Canada over the next few years.

While many of Canada's 600,000 Muslims have applauded the opportunity to settle differences according to Sharia law, which is drawn from the pages of the Koran and the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, some have voiced serious concerns.

"If I am a woman of faith, and the community of people who see themselves as leaders say that if I do not follow the Sharia court here, the Islamic Institute, then I will be accussed of blasphemy and apostasy," Alia Hogben of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women told the media.

She expressed fears and concerns that Muslim women will feel religious and social pressure to enter the Sharia system when they would rather avoid it.

Viewing the establishment of Islamic courts in Canada as a threat to women, Haydar Ketabchi writes, "The threat of implementing Islamic courts in Canada under the pretext of religious freedom, tolerance and cultural sensitivity must be taken seriously and exposed as the Islamist's most recent organized attempt to institutionalize male domination, gender apartheid, xenophobia, and Islamic law around the world. Under the aegis of the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice (IICJ), Islamists have organized to impede women's rights and individual liberties."

"Will there be legal recourse to pressure teenagers belonging to Muslim families into Islamic dress codes, arranged marriages, and limited social interaction with gays, atheists, or Jews at school Will male family members become the "judge and jury" and "punishers" of the entire household by enforcing Sharia, as they freely do so in Islamic states" asks the Muslim writer.

"Muslims in Canada are free to worship their God. They have built mosques, businesses, communities and cultural organizations all within the auspices of Canada's Charter of Rights. Where have Canada's laws limited them in those pursuits"

Mohamed Elmasry, President of the Canadian Islamic Congress said : "If Canadian Muslims have an impartial body they trust, it will ease the backlog in the courts," adding "many judges prefer this."

As Canada moves to be the first nation in the western world to allow Sharia courts, Ontario will act as a test bed for the efforts to allow Muslims to settle civil disputes through Islamic law.

A 1991 Ontario law permits arbitration according to religious principles.

"People can agree to resolve disputes any way acceptable," said a spokesman for the Ontario attorney general.

He said the arbitration act establishes a number of safeguards, including the requirement that parties enter into arbitration only on a voluntary basis. Any decisions by arbitrators are subject to court ratification.

The official said no criminal matters would be considered by Sharia arbitrators and no corporal punishment could be imposed.

Syed Mumtaz Ali, the president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, considered the key force behind the movement for an Islamic court system in Canada began lobbying for Sharia tribunals in Canada two decades ago.

No stranger to controversy, Syed Mumtaz Ali was called to the Ontario Bar in 1962 where he became the first immigrant from South Asia in Canada to take his legal oath on the Koran instead of the Bible.

The retired lawyer states on his website that "Muslims living in non-Muslim countries are regarded as "Bedouins". As such "a Muslim is bound to regulate his conduct according to the laws of Islam, wherever he may be."

"So it is necessary that such Muslims must acquaint themselves with the local laws of the non-Muslim countries so that they can learn what Muslim Laws they can observe or follow and also what Muslim laws they will not be able to observe. For example, as polygamy is unlawful in Canada, Canadian Muslims are not allowed by Canadian law to marry a second wife."

Wahida Valiente told The Asian Pacific Post that the reaction so far to the plans for Islamic courts has been knee-jerk Islamophobia by right-wing commentators who are ill-informed.

The professional family counselor and national vice-chair of the Canadian Islamic Congress said the bottom line people have to understand is that Canadian laws cannot and will not be violated by the Sharia courts.

Valiente agreed that some of the concerns raised need to be addressed, especially on the issue of who is going to be appointed to sit on the tribunals.

"As a woman and a Muslim I will be the first one to oppose any move that will be discriminatory or violates the Canadian constitution," she said.

Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer at the Islamic Institute of Toronto and Toronto lawyer Faisal Kutty said Islamic dispute resolution already exists in the community and people are abiding by decisions that are often times crude or unfair.

"Formalizing the process will allow for greater transparency and accountability," they wrote.

"Those expending their energy campaigning against this initiative outright would help their cause more by offering constructive input to help set parameters and develop a transparent and just process," their article suggested.