"Devil in details" in archbishop's sharia plan

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS (Reuters) - British headlines may scream about stoning and hand-chopping, but the main question about sharia law in any western country is whether Islamic courts should judge Muslims in cases such as divorce, inheritance or business.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams caused uproar by suggesting British law adopt some sharia law. Critics decried the idea as barbaric, citing the gruesome punishments meted out in strict Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia.

The archbishop clearly stated in his speech on Thursday that he ruled out such punishments and only wanted some aspects of Muslim personal law, as a way to accommodate Muslims who felt torn between their Islamic and British identities.

But "the devil is in the detail," as the saying goes.

Sharia law is not a single written code -- there are four schools of interpretation for Sunnis, one for Shi'ites and disagreements within them. Men can enjoy more rights than women, a stand that clashes with western concepts of equality.

"Even in a city like Bradford, you have four different schools of sharia law, so which are you going to accept?" Baroness Haleh Afshar, a law professor, told the BBC.

Sharia is a legal code based on the Koran, the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad and centuries of Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh. It is meant to help Muslims in daily life know what Islam says they can, cannot, should or should not do.

The vast bulk of cases handled by sharia courts -- both in Muslim and western countries -- judge whether marriage, divorce, inheritance and business cases adhere to Islamic precepts.