ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW COMES TO GREAT BRITAIN [Excerpts)

Stoning for adultery. Amputations for theft. Death for apostates. And second-class status for Christians and Jews. This is life under Sharia law, the Islamic system practiced in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain.

Yes, Great Britain.

There are reportedly some 85 Sharia courts now operating there, with Islamic judges ruling on cases ranging from financial to marital disputes among British Muslims.

"We went into some proceedings and there were a couple of Islamic judges sitting up above the rest," said Alan Craig, who recently stepped down as leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance party. "And there was one Muslim woman who was suing for divorce."

Craig is a former city councilor in East London, home to several Sharia courts where women face open discrimination.

"A woman's witness value is half that of a man," Craig told CBN News. "So [the courts] will tend, therefore, to take the man's position in a divorce."

Craig is working with Baroness Caroline Cox to pass a bill in Britain's House of Lords protecting women from this Sharia oppression.

Muslim women in Great Britain often face intimidation within their communities to settle things the Sharia way. According to Craig, some wrongly believe Islamic courts are their only option.

"What we're trying to do is say, Muslim women, especially in this country, need to be informed," he explained. "They actually have other rights and our view, better rights, under English law."

(Stakelbeck, CBN News Online: World, 11/15/12)