The most common method to settle disputes over divorce is through the court along with its lawful jurisdictions. However, for the Muslim communities residing in Australia, the Sharia Law is being used to settle the issues pertaining divorce.
According to a recent post by The Australian, the Muslim communities in Australia have been silently practising sharia law to negotiate their divorces, which leads to many unreliable outcomes for women in custody as well as the division of properties.
The same report indicated that the Muslim communities main resolve is through the Family Court to permit the heavily partisan "agreements'', which often offer "guardianship" of school-aged children to men as well as integrate the return of any marriage dowry and other financial reparation from the women.
It stands out that the women are agreeing with the Sharia Law so that they can be free from the turmoils of a limping marriage as well as initiate the freedom through religious divorce in which all Muslims are adhering too.
As the Muslim women lived under the shadow of the Sharia Law, it leads to more unprecedented circumstances for them. Moreover, it was also relayed by Steve Blizzard site, that the issue is more on the ever-increasing concern when a Muslim man refuses to give his wife a religious divorce, even though the couple are already legally divorced in court. Furthermore, the woman is unable to remarry or travel to many Islamic countries as well as be ostracised in her community too.
It is undeniable that the struggle is real for these Muslim women residing in Australia. Meanwhile, according to a publication released by the Australian Government's Institute of Family Studies, "Australia is distinct by pluralism, cultural, religious and ethnic, and yet, the nation's legal system is not pluralistic because from some concessions to the Indigenous peoples of this country, we abide by the "one law for all" mantra, and both sides of politics have rejected a separate stream of law for specific religious or ethnic communities on the basis that Australia is a secular nation."
The Sharia Law is a religious method of providing Muslim women the freedom from their spouses. However, along with its process and practices, the women are left in a disadvantageous stage as men usually have the upper hand in relation to this policy.
