Under many interpretations of Islamic law, men can easily obtain a divorce -- known as talaq -- by simply declaring their intention three times. A woman, however, usually needs the pronouncement of a Muslim judge who is a scholar in the field of Islamic jurisprudence.
"In most other European countries, there is no such council or judge. Many imams are approached at the mosque and asked, 'Can you give me an Islamic divorce? And they have to say, 'I have no standing to do that,' " Bowen said.
Suhaib Hasan, who sits on the North London council, said it tries to complement the work of the British civil courts. At the same time, he said, the Sharia council offers divorces that are cheaper and quicker than those available in the British courts, though a civil decree is still needed for legal dissolution of the marriage, and in the case of any property or child custody disputes.
"A woman can get a divorce from the civil court, but she will still come to us," he said. "Why? Because she has to satisfy her conscience as well. And in this way, we are providing a service to the Muslim community, and complementing the British legal system."
Shawzia, a 32-year-old physician who obtained a khula, the Islamic term for when a woman ends a marriage, through the London mosque this year, said her civil divorce didn't feel sufficient.
"Before this happened, I didn't consider myself divorced, spiritually," she said. "I couldn't move on with my life. I needed completion. I still felt married."
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The Sharia council in Dewsbury operates in a former pub that has been converted to a mosque and Muslim school.
"Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim"-- In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" -- one of the three judges intones as they begin their deliberations, which drift between Urdu, Arabic, Gujarati and English, depending on the people who appear before them.
The day's business begins with a man who is having an affair after 25 years of marriage; he is willing to divorce, but only if he gets to keep half the house. The wife, wearing a long dress over trousers and a scarf, is sitting nervously at the side of the room. The men sit together around a large table: her father, her husband and the judges.
She says she deserves the whole house; it is only right, she says, in light of her husband's infidelities.
