Helsinki: Sharia mediation courts

Helsinki: Sharia mediation courts

Update: Helsingin Sanomat published the article on their site in English


Mosque mediators settle disputes weekly , and divorce according to Islamic principles. Many Muslims prefer to request assistance from an Imam than from the authorities.


At the end of 2006, Aisha from Helsinki, decided that she had cried, hoped, prayed and waited enough. She no longer wanted to live in the marriage with her African husband.


Thirty year old Aisha is from a Finnish background, but turned to - or returning to, as the Muslims say - (convering) to Islam quite young, before meeting her husband. Islam seemed logical as a religion, and answered her spiritual needs.


The marriage was conducted in the early 2000's, only in Islamic settings. Aisha had not seen the need to go, in addition, to have it legalized by the Finnish state, to Finnish married, which would have meant the Islamic Association registering it with the magistrate.


Now, Aisha, however, wants a divorce, even though a Muslim is permitted it, and what the Koran says, the God hates the most. Aisha was sick of how the man could care less of what marriage should be like according to Islam.


The matter however, was not that simple. The man did not want a divorce, and a Muslim woman is not in a situation to´jusst sign a few papers and walked out of a mariag. The divorce needed the help of a mosque.


And above all: the matter had to be first negotiated.


Friday afternoon Imam Abdirazak Sugulle Mohamed sighs in the rear room of the Helsinki Islamic Center. Things are so many things to take care of. Sugulle tends the largest Muslim society in Finland. It includes nearly 1 600 members, most of whom are Somalis.


As with Christian families, there are arguments and divorces. Unlike Lutherans, devout Muslims however, often seek the Mosque's assistance in settling disputes.


"People enquire a lot," Sugulle says.


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Source: HS, via Tundra Tabloids