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February 3, 2008

UK: Muslim Polygamy To Be Subsidized By Government

The Sunday Telegraph has confirmed what has long been suspected - the British government has decided that it will officially recognize polygamous marriages. The only proviso is that these marriages have taken place in countries where this is not illegal. As a result, men with more than one wife can claim welfare benefits for extra spouses.

In May last year, the Department of Work and Pensions declared that there were fewer than 1,000 polygamous marriages in Britain. This is what we wrote on May 29, 2007:

UK: Taxes Fund Muslim Polygamy

On April 18, the Daily Mail revealed that even though polygamy is illegal in Britain, guidelines from the Department of Work and Pensions approved the funding of such illegal unions. DWP guidelines on council and housing benefits state: "If you were legally married to more than one partner under the laws of a country that permits this, then your relationship is called a polygamous marriage. In this case your household consists of you and any partners who live with you and to whom you are married."

When the Daily Mail made the report, it stated that DWP officials were reviewing whether the state should "continue to pay out income support, jobseeker's allowance and housing and council tax benefits to 'extra' spouses."

Yesterday, the Times reported that the UK government has finally admitted for the first time that almost 1,000 men are currently living in polygamous unions in Britain. Apparently, the government has been assailed for years to provide figures, but has only now responded as a request from the Times was answered under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.

The DWP stated: "It is estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 valid polygamous marriages in the UK, few of whom are claiming a state benefit. Because of the small numbers concerned, our IT systems do not specifically record such information."

Muslim wives who were married in countries where such unions are legal can enter Britain as students or tourists. A Home Office rule book on immigration states: "Entry clearance may not be withheld from a second wife where the husband has divorced his previous wife and the divorce is thought to be one of convenience. This is so, even if the husband is still living with the previous wife and to issue the entry clearance would lead to the formation of a polygamous household."

A statement released under the terms of the Freedom of Information act asserted: "A polygamous marriage is the only circumstance in which an adult dependency increase is payable in income-related benefits. In any other circumstances an adult 'dependent' would have to make a separate claim."

Conservative MP Humphrey Malins, founder of the Immigration Advisory Service, requested from the government three years ago information on how many unregistered polygamous marriages took place in Britain. He never got an answer. Now, the officials admit that they do not know the number.

He said: "I've not been able to find out from the Government what the extent of the problem is. It's a very serious issue." Malins demanded that action was taken to prevent women being encouraged to enter into unrecognized "marriages". He said: "The Government has no grip on the situation. This is quite clearly exploitation of women."

Housing benefit can be claimed for polygamous wives (where the marriage took place in a country where such cases are legal) even when she is abroad, for up to a whole year, as long as the departure from Britain is judged to be temporary and for necessary reasons.

It is now official - Britain makes bigamy illegal, but supports Muslim polygamy.

The latest news reports that the DWP has been involved with three other government departments in mounting a year-long review on polygamy. This review started in November 206, and was conducted in conjunction with HM Revenue and Customs, the Treasury and the Home Office. The review has concluded that official recognition of polygamous unions which were initiated overseas (in countries where it is legal) is the "best possible" option.

The Telegraph quotes a DWP spokesperson who states that since the 1998 Immigration Act, there have been less people with polygamous unions entering Britain. Under the terms of this act, it is illegal to bring in a second wife if the man already has a recognized partner living in Britain. There are other means, however, by which second or third wives can enter Britain on other visas.

The Telegraph also states that there is a legal loophole whereby a man can officially divorce a wife under UK law but continue to live with her as a wife under Islamic "law", and then gain a visa for a woman from overseas whom he can then legally marry.

This scenario is not dissimilar to one of the cases depicted in a Channel Four TV show aired today called Divorce Sharia Style. One young man of Pakistani origins had married a woman in Pakistan and she had come to Britain and bore him children. He still wanted to live an irresponsible life, whereas his wife wanted him to remain monogamous. He went to Pakistan and married a second wife, who remained in Pakistan. His first wife was understandably upset, though the young man dismissed her complaints as "nagging".

The Islamic Sharia Council, held under the auspices of the Regents Park Mosque (London's Central Mosque), dealt with his case. The youth had given her an Islamic divorce, by saying "talaq" three times. He was informed by the sharia official that three talaqs must be uttered separately, and not in one instance. This youth did not want to divorce his second wife who remained in Pakistan, and continued to live with his first wife.

The Sharia Council wished to have the British government accept sharia law on family issues as something legitimate. It is interesting that the man giving "sharia judgment" to the irresponsible and selfish young man was Suhaib Hassan. This "sheikh" is secretary general of the Islamic Sharia Council. This man gained some notoriety on January 15 last year when he featured in another Channel 4 documentary.

This earlier documentary, called "Undercover Mosque", was produced by Hardtalk productions, and featured on Channel 4's "Dispatches" thread. This show was later attacked by West Midlands Police for "misrepresenting" the preachers shown. The police complaint was dismissed by broadcasting regulator Ofcom, and last week "Undercover Mosque" was nominated for a Royal Television Society award.

The entire "Undercover Mosque" documentary can be uploaded here in QuickTime format (106 mb). Suhaib Hassan appears at 17 minutes into the video, where he is quoted saying: "Allah has decreed this thing that 'I am going to be dominant'. The dominance of course is a political dominance....The chopping of the hands off thieves, the flogging of adulteress, and flogging of the drunkard. Then, jihad against the non-Muslims, against those people who are the oppressors."

On this evening's show - "Divorce Sharia Style" he was shown trying to persuade the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, to attend a meeting on making sharia divorce and marriage law part of Britain's legislation. Accompanying Hassan was a smiling Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the head of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and chairman of the East London Mosque.

One thing was made clear in the "Divorce Sharia Style" documentary - many young Muslims are being encouraged to recognize Sharia law over British law in relation to issues of divorce, marriage and inheritance. Some of the issues of Muslims trying to impose Sharia law were discussed on these pages on November 30, 2006.

In light of attempts to introduce sharia law by the Islamic Sharia Council and other bodies, the report from the Sunday Telegraph is more disturbing. If loopholes can exist, which allow an individual to play off British law against Islamic law to gain benefits for a second (or third, or fourth) spouse, then males like the irresponsible young man depicted in today's Channel 4 documentary would certainly seek to exploit it.

The Telegraph quotes a British immigration rulebook which states: "Entry clearance may not be withheld from a second wife where the husband has divorced his previous wife and the divorce is thought to be one of convenience. This is so, even if the husband is still living with the previous wife and to issue the entry clearance would lead to the formation of a polygamous household."

The newspaper quotes Tory Chris Grayling, shadow work and pensions secretary, who called the decision to formally recognize polygamy as "completely unjustifiable". He said: "You are not allowed to have multiple marriages in the UK, so to have a situation where the benefits system is treating people in different ways is totally unacceptable and will serve to undermine confidence in the system. This sets a precedent that will lead to more demands for the culture of other countries to be reflected in UK law and the benefits system."

This decision, as well as displaying the ridiculous lengths to which the British government will pander to other culture's alien practices, is nothing short of scandalous. The person who will have to pay for this act of folly will be the British taxpayer.

Currently, the maximum penalty for bigamy is seven years' jail. But for some Muslims, the "penalty" will be free welfare payments.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 3, 2008 10:59 PM

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Posted by: Stephen Gash SIOE England at February 4, 2008 10:13 AM

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