Channel 4 News has been speaking to Muslim women who are unhappy at their treatment at the hands of one of the UK’s sharia councils.

Reports have suggested a growing number of British Muslims are turning to traditional Islamic law to help settle various civil disputes.

Can sharia law work successfully alongside the UK legal system?

How many sharia councils are there in the UK?

Nobody really knows. Most media reports quote this study by the 2009 study by the think tank Civitas, which found evidence of at least 85 “courts” operating across Britain.

The study only named 19 bodies, but added: “There are the dozens of informal tribunals run out of mosques or online.”

Arguably, it’s not fair to lump together websites that answer people’s questions on the minutiae of sharia law and hearings that people attend in person to obtain an Islamic divorce.

In fact, one of the sites mentioned by the researchers, Darul Iftaa, explicitly states: “Darul Iftaa is not an Islamic sharia law court; hence, the opinions provided by us are not intended to be a ruling as one would expect to receive from a sharia court.”

So that number of 85, though very widely reported, is difficult to verify.

There is a nationwide network of at least 10 bodies run by the Islamic Sharia Council, based in Leyton, east London. These deal overwhelmingly with matrimonial problems but have no real powers under English law.

They can dissolve religious marriages, which is clearly an important matter for observant Muslims, but only a court can end a civil marriage.

Another well-known organisation is the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, which offers a dispute resolution service in a number of areas of civil law, and whose decisions can be legally binding.

It would probably be naive to suggest that these Islamic organisations with a high public profile are the only ones in the country offering religious rulings and resolving disputes.

Lawyers with experience of sharia law have told us that anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers are growing rapidly, and they are concerned that there is no effective regulatory framework to keep track of them or ensure that standards are enforced.

No Islamic body has any jurisdiction in the criminal law, despite newspaper reports of informal councils of elders settling criminal cases in some Muslim communities.

We don’t even know if the details of this story are correct, or how accurate it is to describe this as the work of a “sharia court” – let alone whether it happens regularly.

Has sharia been endorsed by the legal establishment?

Not exactly. Rulings handed down by the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal can be legally binding. But this is not because of any special recognition of the wisdom of the sharia principles it follows.

It’s simply because the arbitration act 1996 allows almost any body to act as a dispute resolution service if both parties agreed to be bound by its decision.

There was some controversy recently when the Law Society published a practice note for solicitors whose clients had asked them to draw up a will compliant with Islamic law.

It was immediately obvious that sharia discriminates against women and non-Muslims when it comes to the rules of inheritance.

The note reads: “Male heirs in most cases receive double the amount inherited by a female heir of the same class. Non-Muslims may not inherit at all, and only Muslim marriages are recognised.”

Critics say the society is effectively endorsing discrimination by publishing this advice, but the organisation denies this.

A spokesman told us people can choose to do whatever they like with their money, and it’s not a solicitor’s job to tell them they are wrong.

The society says it simply published the advice to help lawyers who have been approached by Muslim clients asking for a will that satisfies both sharia law and the laws of England and Wales.

The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal’s website gives prominent place to what it calls an endorsement of sharia by the then lord chief justice in 2008.

But the judge’s words are quite nuanced. He does have some positive things to say about Islamic law, but also stresses that “there can be no question” of courts being allowed to enforce the punishments set out in sharia law.

He summed it up like this: “There is no reason why principles of sharia law, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

“It must be recognised, however, that any sanctions for a failure to comply with the agreed terms of the mediation would be drawn from the laws of England and Wales.

“The Ministry of Justice’s position is that sharia ‘law’ has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position”.

But the Islamic Sharia Council says its aim is for the principles of sharia to be eventually recognised in English law.

The group says: “Though the Council is not yet legally recognised by the authorities in the UK, the fact that it is already established, and is gradually gaining ground among the Muslim community, and the satisfaction attained by those who seek its ruling, are all preparatory steps towards the final goal of gaining the confidence of the host community in the soundness of the Islamic legal system and the help and insight they could gain from it.”

Are complaints common?

As there is no overarching regulation of Islamic councils and tribunals, we have no way of knowing how widespread complaints are.

Ania Khan, head of the Islamic department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, told us: “I am used to having continuous complaints about the English legal system. Once you have a judgement, someone is going to be angry.

“I don’t have that many complaints about sharia council decisions compared to the large amount of decisions they are making.”

Ms Khan said sharia councils could serve a useful purpose if they settle disputes efficiently, but said there are effectively “no checks and balances” on how they operate at the moment.

What about Jewish courts?

Jewish law bodies have operated for centuries, offering rulings on many of the same civil disputes now being tackled by the sharia councils.

Similarly, a Jewish religious court or Beth Din can grant a religious divorce – which has nothing to do with ending a civil marriage.

And a Jewish court can make legally binding rulings – but only if both parties agree to let it act as an official arbitrator under English law.

As with the sharia councils, complaints and controversies are not uncommon. Some orthodox Jewish women, known as “chained women” have found themselves unable to marry again in a synagogue because their husbands deny them a religious divorce.