Nonprofit groups file legal brief in Shariah law dispute

Four nonprofit groups are telling a federal judge a ban on use of Islamic law in Oklahoma courts helps protect women from underage marriage, honor killing, genital manipulation, polygamy and marital rape.

BY NOLAN CLAY Oklahoman 3

Published: November 18, 2010

Four nonprofit groups are telling a federal judge a ban on use of Islamic law in Oklahoma courts helps protect women from underage marriage, honor killing, polygamy and marital rape.

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In a friend-of-the-court legal brief, the groups said such practices exist in Islamic nations governed by Shariah law.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange has temporarily blocked implementation of the ban but will consider the issue again Monday in Oklahoma City federal court. Voters approved the ban Nov. 2 when they passed State Question 755.

The groups said in New Jersey a Muslim man brutally raped his wife and used as his defense his religious beliefs that a wife must comply with her husband's sexual demands. They said a trial judge ruled in the man's favor but was rebuked by an appellate court.

The Virginia-based groups are U.S. Border Control, U.S. Border Control Foundation, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, and Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund.