Sultan Mahmood had not spoken with the man who used to be his best friend for more than two years when they faced each other in a lawyer’s office. The pair, from Bolton, were close friends until a business venture they started together went sour.

The company, which dealt with personal injury claims, had done well — “too well”, according to Mr Mahmood. He believed that not only had the profits been distributed unevenly but that the partner who had been best man at his wedding owed him about £100,000.

“There was a lot of money at stake, but the relationship also mattered to me,” he said. “If you take your best friend to court and through the legal system, he or she is not going to invite you over the next day for a cup of tea, are they?”

Reluctant to spend time and money going through British courts, they decided that Sharia would be the best way to settle the dispute. They agreed that Faisal Aqtab Siddiqi, a commercial law barrister and head of the Hijaz College Islamic University in Warwickshire, was a suitable figure of authority whose decision they would respect.

After years of bitter arguments, Mr Mahmood and his friend arranged to spend one Sunday last December with Mr Siddiqi, who spent the day listening to their grievances.

“It was not a fiscal advantage I wanted,” said Mr Mahmood, who works in the legal department of a county council. “We wanted someone to listen to our circumstances and come to a decision in a manner that had a religious connotation.

“The idea behind an alternative to the orthodox structure of civil courts is that it gives you the chance to have your dispute listened to in a place where you feel comfortable.

“The obvious advantages are that you save money and time, but it is more than that. Sometimes it is not the monetary resolution. It is about seeking a solution which will leave both parties happy. In the British civil courts, someone always suffers.”

Mr Mahmood presented his case and the friend presented his, in front of a witness whom he had brought.

Then, “in an act of absolute diplomacy and great wisdom on his part”, Mr Siddiqi spoke with each of them privately. It was decided that Mr Mahmood was owed £10,000. The friend would reimburse him with £1,000 the next month, followed by three monthly payments of £3,000.

“The decision was in my favour. But we also had an opportunity to listen to each other. I realised he hadn’t made as many mistakes as I thought he had, and that I had made some mistakes too,” Mr Mahmood said. More prosaically, he saved about £5,000 in legal bills.

A Sharia tribunal for civil disputes will soon be set up by Hijaz College, according to Mr Mahmood. Fees will be relatively cheaper than those demanded by civil litigation lawyers.

“My exposure to the alternative dispute resolution of the Sharia system was fantastic. But our main priority is obediance of the \ law. It is not ‘either or’. No one wants Sharia for criminal matters. But for civil cases, it can help courts with the current backlog. It would relieve some of the burden.”

And the association in Western minds of Sharia with stoning and amputations? “I have given up trying to explain,” he said.