Claim: There are now over 100 Sharia courts in the UK.
Fact: There is no official statistic on the number of Sharia councils in the UK. Moreover, the use of the word ‘court’ implies legal authority, which Sharia councils do not have.
On 20 December 2024, a post on X stated the following:
“There are now over 100 ‘Sharia courts’ in the UK.
Do you agree they should all be shut down?”
This text was accompanied by a photo of three men going over documents inside what appears to be an office. A reverse image search of the photo reveals that it is from February 2008, and it shows three people from the Sharia Council of Britain presiding over marital cases. The original photo can be found here on Getty Images.
This post comes in the wake of a recent surge in the media of stories about the UK becoming a hub for Sharia courts and law, as is seen here, here, here, and here. Two of these sources cite a recent article by The Times, dated 18 December 2024, that claims the number of Sharia courts in Britain have increased to 85. However, there is no evidence or detail provided as to how this figure was calculated.
Fact or Fiction?
Conducting a Google search for “Number of Sharia Courts in UK”, Soch Fact Check came across an article by Reuters, dated 12 June 2024, that fact-checked a similar claim of there being “over 130 sharia courts”. It was not clear whether the user was talking about these courts being in just England or the UK.
In response to this claim, Reuters referenced a 2018 review on the application of Sharia law in England and Wales titled “The independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales”. This review was chaired by Dr Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
With regard to the number of Sharia councils in England and Wales, the report stated the following:
“There is also no accurate statistic on the number of sharia councils, with estimates
in England and Wales varying from 30 to 85. To the best of our knowledge, there are no sharia councils in Scotland.”
While Soch Fact Check attempted to find studies like this that had been conducted after 2018, this review is the latest one. Hence, the claim that there are over 100 Sharia courts appears to be inflated.
Claims about the growing number of Sharia courts in the UK can be found as far back as 2009 when the think tank Civitas claimed that at least 85 sharia courts were “operating mainly out of mosques dotted around the country [UK]”. This claim was shared again in 2015 by the Daily Mail in an article that stated “There are now EIGHTY-FIVE Islamic courts dispensing ‘justice’ across the UK”. Most recently, this claim was made again in the article by The Times that states the Sharia courts in Britain have increased to 85.
News such as this often gives rise to concerns about parallel legal systems operating within the UK and general anti-Muslim hatred. This can be seen in the comments section of the claim on X, some of which are shown below:
However, the 2018 independent review notes that using the term “courts” for these institutions is “incorrect”. The word “councils” is more accurate, as they have no “legal status and no legal binding authority under civil law”.
Virality
The post on X has amassed 1.8 million views and 7 K reposts.
On X, claims of more than 100 Shariat courts operating in the UK were shared here, here, here, and here.
On Facebook, claims of more than 100 Shariat courts operating in the UK were shared here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: There is no official statistic on the number of Sharia councils in the UK, and the figure of over 100 Sharia courts in the UK is inaccurate. Moreover, these institutions do not have legal status or authority, as is implied by the word “court”.
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Background image in cover photo: Taxation
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