A COMMUNITY leader has denied the existence of formal sharia hearings in Woolwich but says community disputes are often settled by elders outside of law courts.

Dr Tariq Abbasi, director of the Greenwich Islamic Centre, Plumstead Road, Woolwich, says Somali families will often meet to decide on civil matters such as divorces and family disputes.

He said: "If you call a sharia court two people trying to judge between two parties, then this does happen.

"But this would happen in any community when there's a dispute."

Dr Abbasi's comments come after national newspapers reported last week the stabbing of a Somali teenager was dealt with by a sharia Islamic law hearing set up by members of Woolwich's Somali community in 2006.

It was claimed a hearing was convened between elders after the victim's family told police officers who arrested the assailants the matter would be settled out of court.

Youth worker Aydarus Yusuf, 29, was quoted as saying the assailants were ordered by elders to compensate their victim.

But a Met Police spokesman says he had no record of such an event taking place.

He said: "Once a criminal inquiry has begun, it will be pursued to its conclusion by the police service, with officers liasing with the Crown Prosecution Service where necessary.

"We would not defer to any other proceedings which may take place."

Dr Abbasi said: "When disputes arise between two families and they both know each other, a meeting is the best way to avoid friction.

"Otherwise those families will always have anger in their mind. If they have some sense put into them, it saves a huge amount of court time."

Last week, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said the adoption of parts of Islamic legal law was "unavoidable" in Britain.

But Dr Abbasi said the comments had been taken out of context.

He said: "It's just impossible to implement sharia law in this country.

"What he's really saying is if there's something you can take from any religion, you should adopt it. There's no harm in that."

  • Sharia law is derived from the Koran, the Prophet Mohammed and Islamic scholars.

It governs the lives of all Muslims, including criminal and civil matters.