The more public figures pander to Muslims the more the underlying resentment to the will grow. And I doubt very much insulting the British public with the word 'islamophobic' will help. What we feel is that it is us, the indiginous population, who are being asked to make all the conscessions.

Jeremiah, London,

What if a woman is coerced by the Mullahs to accept less than her fair share in a divorce settlement ?
How can there not be coercion in Islam which has such terrible quranic verses
4/34 men have authority over women and are superior to the women., ..Witness of women is worth half that man

arun, london, uk

Hi all. When will you stop falling to the scaremongering?

I am an observant Muslim (yes with the apparel that oes with it, beard etc..) and have no intention of marrying x 4. I know of nobody here who has married more than once but several people at work with mistresses and no hoo ha there.

mm, London,

The only way you'll really know is if you personally know Muslim people. If you live in rural Wales, you won't have a clue but if you have colleagues/friends, ask them to clarify rather than believe what you read.

I challenge you to do this and all observant Muslims do not condone honor killings.

mm, London,

You are right - it is like a red rag.

I look forward to the day when it makes a great many people PUBLICLY very resentful

terry, L'Absie, France

Minette, that's exactly that many Muslims have of British values, British Law, Christianity, your Church of England, and your Queen. Tolerate, but never respect. Just live alongside it. Same feelings were held towards your ancestors when they invaded other people's countries.

Ashwin, London, United Kingdom

Well said, Minette Martin! A country must not forsake it's own identity and core values in the name of tolerance. The west must remain strong and resolute in defense of enlightenment ideals and individual liberty. Sharia is unrelentingly trying to take us back to the dark ages.

Karen, Ontario, USA

why they should be allowed to run seperate legal system if they wanted to live under sheria law they should have choose to live in Saudia Arabia no one forced them to immigrate here
in U.K.

Vijay Patel, Leicester ,

The English legal system is the bedrock upon which modern freedoms were founded. Sharia law is arguably its antithesis.

Please tell this American that the English themselves are not about to jettison this heritage in the name of "diversity" or "tolerance".

Ginny, Scottsdale , USA

Sharia,hijab, halal meat. All of these things are cultural Imperialism. We really need leaders who can stand up for British values against this. It is more than rude to wear the tribal badge of the enemies who are killing our soldiers. .Educated Muslims keep it minimal. Moderate people
need help

Glenda, Cardiff, UK

State allowance for multiple wives? Halal dispatching for butchery of animals? The other-world closed-ness of Mosques. I would say that Muslims enjoys form of freedom which have long since been denied by either revulsion or civilisation, Chamberlain would recognise the issue, appeasement.

Malcolm Turner, Alsager, England

did Don Corrleone not have the same approach as these imams. "i will help you but someday i may ask you a small favour".
oh as a matter of interest will this tolerance of Sharia be advised to the Law Lords in Scotland? it is a separate legal system, in case you had forgotten.

ARrow, Edinburgh , Scotland

Girls of primary age are now in schools wearing hijab. They are below the age of consent. We should outlaw the hijab in schools and begin with primary schools. These are children being abused by being taught their bodies are the cause of evil. Lets let them not grow up to be victims of Sharia.

Charlie, Winchester, UK

Then expect the same with regards to your legal system. The concept of a superiority complex is endemic as the basis for constant conflict.

jeb, mississauga, canada

Mariam Malik, excellent piece, tell me why do the Muslims not get rid of extremists you know them, you all know their teachings, you allow them to live amongst you why not turf them out, why ask the Government to do it? The moment the Government does screams of Rasist will be heard. So you do it.

LLoyd, London,

What is the punishment in sharia law for bombing the underground trains and buses?

donald, london, uk

There are may people who don't tolerate or respect us. We can't bend our laws just to accomodate them. No feeble minded thinking from our leaders, please. Can we, for example, even establish a church in Saudia Arabia? Simple Nursery solution: What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

ian cheese, london, uk

So at what point do you say enough? Under sharia law, women and children are chattel to be bartered. A woman can be beaten within that dubious law code. Daughters can be virtually sold to the highest bidder. Slaves can be be purchased. The outdated ethics of sharia should not be tolerated.

Ellen K, Carrollton, TX, USA

No need to worry there is NO CHANCE of Sharia law will never be enacted in the UK it has to many parts which fly in the face of the EU. Forget it its not going to happen.

LLoyd, London,

As they pulled down the walls of the USSR they were building them up in Europe. We are currently trying to "Democaratise" IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN, IRAN and probably some time soon PAKISTAN, and at the same time building the foundations for an Islamic republic here.

O Hail thee puppet masters.

Andy, Stockholm/Chesterfield, Sweden/England

A few years ago Canada's Labor Party tried the gimmick of bringing sharia law in in order to win an election. The Canadians consigned them to the dustbin. Hopefully the British people get to see Labour for what it is based on these new sharia machinations. What will you be tolerant of next? Nazism?

Mehul Kamdar, Des Plaines, IL, USA

A classic case of the blind leading the partially blind.

Mohammed, London, UK

Muslims in this country have no respect for our traditions ..They do not tolerate or respect any aspect of western life or values in their countries of origin and neither should we.

John, LONDON, ENGLAND
Speak for yourself John. Not for me!

Izhar Khan, aberdeen, UK

Fantastic article.

I too wonder what Lord Phillips hoped to gain from saying this. As the wrtier has pointed out, sharia already exists in this country and just as long as it stays within British law, there is no problem.

We are scared of the bleeding hearts. I hope Lord Phillips is not one.

kim, london,

So when will the first stoning be held in Covent Garden?

Rod Garr, Miami , USA

How do we tolerate the intolerant? I would put it on a par with being nice to Nazis.

Fraser James, Tankerton, United Kingdom

Muslims demanded their "rights" be met in the UK and have obtained hundreds of mosques in return.Try asking for planning permission for an Anglican church in Jeddha town hall for instance.They'll still be laughing at you next year.Our rights don't count over there, mate.One word for it - HYPOCRISY.

Michael Martin, Rosal,

Common law is not meant to deal with an organized politico/religious body whose aim is to discredit it!


ISLAMISM IS NOT A MINORITY. AND IT TREATS ITS MINORITIES SEVERELY!

HENCE, THERE CANNOT BE ANY COMPROMISE OF OUR LAWS!

steiner, worchester, England

I wish the Government would get rid of the extremists and then let the rest of us, law abiding Muslim citizens live in peace, under British Law. I am tired of defending myself or way of life to people that have misunderstanding of Islam due to a few. The vast majority of Muslims are good citizens.

Mariam Malik, Sutton, UK

Tolerate Sharia? You are joking. A young woman told me that given what she has been reading on a certain fatwa site, it might be straight to hell for her because she is or does all of the following: disobedient wife; meets men; does not pray five times a day. Minetta, zero tolernace would be better

Sharif , Nidder, Germany

We should not tolerate Sharia law let alone respect it! Muslims in this country have no respect for our traditions and place the demands of their religion above everything else. They do not tolerate or respect any aspect of western life or values in their countries of origin and neither should we.

John, LONDON, ENGLAND

Men in robes (and wigs) think we should respect the values of medieval (hejiran calendar date 1500) men in robes who believe in the dictats of a supernatural being who tolerates gencide but not homophobia, mysogeny, ant-semitism, bigotry, intolerance. Nope, nothing to respect there.

Ian, Dunfermline,

I think a lot of decent people are coming around to the idea of capital punishment for murder and rape. The Shariah has that as a punishment for murder of the family wish it so. With the level of anarchy increasing on our streets I would not be surprised if the debate shifted to criminal punishments

syed, london, UK

This whole topic depresses me. I am fearful of the outcry pursuant o this article. Am I an Islamophobiphobe.

tarquinfarquhar, Liverpool, UK

Will the muslims accept to have their arms chopped off in case of theft, as the sharia law states?

emily, london, uk

It's painfully obvious many of you only know Muslims from a cursory glance. As someone who used to think like you, I can remember seeing Muslim women and thinking "poor things." Now, my sister-in-laws are Muslim--all 7 of them.They are strong and in control of their lives. I was worried for nothing!

Krista, London, UK

If a society goes multi-cultural it has to change to accommodate the new cultures or face ongoing social instability and eventual civil war. Lord Phillips & Williams are simply addressing the obvious. Painful concessions WILL have to be made. Sorry,but Islam IS AN INDIVISIBLE part of the UK's future

Thabo, London, UK

By your logic Marin "willing victims" of child abuse should be
allowed to continue to be victims . Don't be ridiculous .You can
get a wise man to end a dispute over a lawn mower but not over "family" issues. Family issues will leave divorced women
poor and daughters married off and veiled..

Pauline, Cobham, UK

Private, civil disagreements can be resolved with mutual consent via mediation already. There is NO reason to give Sharia any special mention at all. However, that is not the agenda, now is it? Hop-skip-jump people will be coerced into taking the rulings, and "religious leaders'" egos will gain.

Roger Thornhill, London, UK

"I think that creeping adaptation to something unwanted, driven by old-fashioned liberal guilt, is what people of the mainstream culture fear."

The problem in a nutshell - good article!

Homer, London,

"There are some aspects of sharia, or Muslim practice, – such as making girls wear veils – which I do not respect at all."

This is the problem- in practice a Sharia "court" together with peer/social group pressure can force people to act against their will -and against UK law.

Ian, Petersfield, UK

Surely the naming of the Muslim Council of Britain, is dissrespectful , should it not be called the British council of Muslims?.

wayne, huntingdon, cambridgeshire

Tolerate sheria now, the day will come it will eradicate all civilised values as it did in Iran, and now doing in Turkey.

Aka Demir, Herts, UK

From today's lead story in The Times: “If you are fighting to install sharia [Islamic law] on this country (Iraq), you are going to have to be killed,” said Colonel David Brown, an American adviser to 2nd Division. How can we support that policy there and want to install Sharia here?

James Lachowsky, Swindon,

Perhaps one aspect of Sharia Law that could be adopted is the ban on usury. It would be more fitting for the sub-prime loan shark 'bankers' to be subject to due punishment than to receive a golden wheelbarrow each courtesy of taxpayers.

Paul, Coventry,

How well informed can you be when you’re kept barefoot and pregnant and chained to the kitchen sink. When you don’t speak the language of the country you’re living in, when you’re buried so deep in a ghetto you don’t even know that the country you live speaks a different language to you.

Susan, Barry, S Wales

There is nothing new here; nearly all the major religions and their bigoted simple-minded enforcers have but one intent - mind and body control over everyone else. It is a pity that Marrin doesn't equally disdain the autocratic emplacement of clerics in our own, supossedly democratic, Parliament.

Joseph White, Loughborough, UK

Minette is right. No respect is due. But the reason goes uncomfortably deep. Islam. Christianity and Judaism are medieval superstitions which people should be free to hold, but which deserve no respect.

Susan, London,

Don't respect or tolerate a creed that is against all that modernity stands for. Sharia has no place in a modern society.

Nils, Malmo,

When I emigrated to Canada from Britain, I did not seek to change the laws of my new country. In fact I do not wish them to change. To have separate laws for a section of the population is discriminatory and wrong. The Archbishop of Canterbury is pandering to the religious minorities of Britain.

Roy Murray, Toronto, Canada

I have no respect for a religion which actively discriminates against & represses women. Why any woman would voluntarily subject herself to Sharia law is beyond me. Some Muslim women are so controlled by Imams & men they may not realise they have a choice when it comes to law - that is the problem!

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

So next we allow the stoning to death of an adultress, we chop of the hands of a shop lifter, allow men to regulary beat their wives & execute our daughters for not marrying the fathers chosen man! I regulary work where this law is applied daily, it has no place in our British society. Get Rid.

Jeff, Norwich, UK

Minette hit the nail on the head.
There is nothing further to say

James Currie, Calgary, Canada

Imagine the outrage if some racist group pushed for a countywide acceptance of lynching. Rightly so, they would be ostracized.

But when the muslims push for sharia law, the home of honour killings, and ask for legitamcy, politicians bend over backwards to be seen as tolerant.

How strange.

Bill, Atlanta, US

If a Muslim woman willingly accepts what others might consider unequal treatment in a divorce, that is surely her right.


And if an abused, worn down and emotionally damaged woman accepts routine domestic violence - as some do, in all cultures- then is that "surely her right" too?

Eduardo Flores, Madrid, spain

This is dangerous territory - in a secular democratic country, one law, as determined by a Parliament elected by the people must prevail.

Religious law should not be tolerated.

Brian B, Morayfield, Australia