An advert for a Sharia law administrator posted on the Government’s website is “deeply worrying”, as Britons are warned it poses a risk to UK law. The job advert has since been removed from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Find a Job platform after furious backlash from MPs. The role, based in Didsbury, Manchester, payid£23,500 per year for a successful applicant to “provide all admin and secretarial work” for the Manchester Shariah Council.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage condemned the job posting, writing on X “our country and its values are being destroyed”, while shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has called for Sharia courts to “be banned”. Its advert said those applying must have previous work experience “in Shariah law-related fields and/or Shariah courts in Muslim countries”, as well as an understanding of British law.
Sharia courts are religious bodies that apply Islamic law, and have existed in the UK since the early 1980s. It applies to family matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance for Muslims.
The exact number operating in England and Wales is unknown, although a 2018 independent review commissioned by the Home Office on the application of Sharia law in England and Wales put the number between 30 and 85.
Migration Watch chairman Alp Mehmet told GB News: “This is deeply worrying and presents a serious challenge to laws that quite rightly apply to every person living in Britain.”
Similarly, Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society, believes that Sharia courts “undermine the principle of one law for all”, explaining the “negative impact on the rights of women and children”.
He saaid: “Sharia law represents an inherently discriminatory outlook that must never form any part of the law in England and Wales.”
Following the widespread criticism of the posting, the advert was removed on Monday morning “by the employer or a system administrator.” It is not known which organisation removed it.
A spokesman for the DWP said: “This is a position being advertised on the Find A Job portal by an independent registered charity and is not within DWP.
“Find A Job is a free platform to help jobseekers find vacancies with employers from various sectors.”