Sharia Courts: American Style

Esam Sohail

Most law abiding Americans will have contact with only three kinds of courts in the course of their lives: traffic court, probate court, and Sharia court. The last amongst these is also referred to as ‘family court’ in polite language, though its purpose is to preside over the destruction of families, one family at a time, in a civilized manner. But I digress. Sharia court, you said? Walk into any divorce related child custody proceedings, and you will agree with me. Except, that you cannot walk into any of those proceedings.

Yes, those proceedings are secret and so are their records, lest the public know what is done in their name. For a lot of strange stuff gets done in the name of the people of the State of Kansas (or any other state for that matter) in these secretive, star chamber proceedings.

In this star chamber, where the most heart-wrenching and monumental issues in the lives of many ordinary Americans are decided, there is no jury of peers. Rather one usually all powerful, overburdened, jaded, and tenured judge holds the power of life and liberty over broken people whose children’s college funds are destined to be used instead to send their attorneys’ children to fine universities.

The outcome of these ‘trials’ is decided by gender, in true Sharia style. The usual outcome is the same, no matter in what state or county this star chamber is found: the woman wins and the man loses. In nine out of ten cases, custody of children and the family home is given to the woman while the man is ordered to part with half his income for the privilege of seeing his own children twice a month. In one of the most perverse forms of logic, the prevailing wisdom amongst family court judges is that the person who breaks up a child’s home is the best parent to provide stability to the child and look after its best interests. Lest a reader wonder about the last sentence, readily available statistics show that approximately three fourths of the divorces are initiated by women and an overwhelming majority amongst these are ‘no-fault’ actions.

The biggest winners in these Sharia courts, however, are not women and the greatest losers are not men. Rather the chief victors are the august members of the divorce bar (a.k.a, the Family Section of the Bar Association) who make their living by maintaining a system that is highly adversarial and deeply prejudiced. The principal victims of this legal syndicate are children whose fathers are relegated to being bi-monthly visitors in their lives because of an unwritten judicial philosophy that holds that an absent father is in a child’s ‘best interest’. Of course these same lawyers and judges can be found at Rotary Club dinners bemoaning the increasing fatherlessness in our society.

There you have it. Next time someone mentions a secret court with an all powerful judge, no juries, and gender-based justice, do not pull out the map of the Middle East. Just drive by and take a close look at your county courthouse instead. Yes, my comparison is an exaggeration to some extent. But, in the same vein, it is outrageous to have the most influential courts in our country operate under a system that smacks of features more suited to kangaroo courts in Communist and Islamist societies.