A recent formal review on Sharia courts in the United Kingdom describes what are actually shura councils, an informal, majority rule community council usually made up of men who know Islamic doctrine and are familiar with Sharia laws. They are consultants and arbitrators for family and civil disputes whose decrees are typically accepted as binding.
The 42nd book of the Koran is titled, “The Shura,” and a verse in it says, “Those . . . who [conduct] their affairs by mutual consultation among themselves. . .”
The review addresses the calls to ban Sharia in the UK and states, “we consider the closure of Sharia [shura] councils is not a viable option” because they feel it would drive the councils underground and make discriminatory practices worse (like misogynistic rulings on wife beating and divorce).
But if the shura councils are allowed to exist as legal entities, there will be two parallel sets of laws and the UK will no longer be a sovereign nation bound together by one legal system. There's no two ways about it--one nation, one law, one citizenry.
Here is the full UK report
Bill Warner PhD is an author of several books that are available at Political Islam.