West Midlands

But supporters of Sharia in Britain say it's not about punishment - it's supposed to promote peace and justice. 

And they say there is a need for Islamic courts in this country to cater for Muslims in issues like marriage and divorce.

The main function of the Sharia Council at Birmingham Central Mosque is to deal with Islamic divorces.

Islamic Marriages

Many Muslims in the West Midlands have marriages which aren’t officially recognised in Britain.

That's because although they've performed an Islamic wedding, they never legally registered their marriage.

But that can cause problems if the couple splits up - because the marriage is not legally valid, the divorcing woman will have no legal right to financial support.

Many such women come to the Sharia council for help.

Amra Bone: councils should have a legal role

They go before a panel of two Islamic scholars, the chairman and a female Islamic academic.

The council has no legal powers but Amra Bone, who sits on the panel, believes they should be given an official legal role.

"I think there is a case for women to have justice given to them and at the moment it’s not happening through our civil courts."

Criticism

But there is concern about whether the decisions made by these councils discriminate against women.

Gina Khan, a Muslim women’s rights campaigner says British law is best. 

"Under the British law you will still be treated as an equal human being as a Muslim woman. You’ve got no chance of that under extreme Sharia law."

Many people also fear that introducing aspects of Sharia law in the UK would lead to parallel legal systems.  

And Inside Out has found evidence that could already be happening amongst some minority communities.

Awil Hussein: parallel systems not fair

Parallel system

Some of Birmingham's Somali population use an informal court called a "ghar", which is made up Muslim elders, to help resolve disputes between members the community.

But Awil Hussein, a community worker in Sparkhill, says these informal courts have also dealt with criminal matters.  

"What the ghar people do is solve the problems among themselves and do not involve the police or the criminal justice system. 

"One Somali man stabbed another person and it was dealt within the ghar. 

"When a British person or another member of society commits the same crime he is punished in prison.  It’s not fair."

The Sharia council in Birmingham though is not asking to deal with criminal matters.

But it argues there is room within the English legal system for it to rule on Islamic marriages and divorce  - areas where it feels it can help the community.