British Muslims want Islamic courts

Muslims living in Britain want courts to use Islamic law in civil cases relating to their own community.

A new poll today suggests Muslims living in this country want more recognition of their faith.

Among the changes they would like are time off for prayers at work and also for schools to give pupils the chance to pray five times a day.

The findings are in a Guardian/ICM poll published today. Just over 60 per cent of the 500 Muslims surveyed said they wanted Islamic courts, operating on sharia principles - "so long as the penalties did not contravene British law".

Many civil cases in this country deal with family disputes such as divorce, child custody and inheritance. Sharia law is highly controversial and interpreted differently around the world and any move to introduce it in British courts would spark huge controversy.

However, the poll also suggests that many Muslims want to play a greater part in British life. A total of 40 per cent said they needed to do more to integrate into mainstream British culture.