Islamic Sharia Council repay the dower to receive an Islamically recognized divorce. The Islamic Sharia Council must recognise a British divorce, by virtue of the law of the land, if the petitioner shows them a decree absolute. However, the Islamic Sharia Council is displeased if the dower remains unpaid. Writer, broadcaster and academic Myriam Francois-Cerrah has pointed to "serious problems" with the councils, citing a case in which a Muslim woman seeking advice was reportedly directed to a "controversial cleric" who urged her to give up her custody dispute with her husband and "hand over full custody of her seven year old child"
Application of Islamic law by country has a mixed legal system of English common law and traditional law. The legal system of Senegal is based on French civil law. The 1972 Family Code ("Code de la famille") is secular in nature. Islamic law is allowed by article 571 of the Family Code only in the case of intestate successions, and only if the person had demonstrated in life a wish that his succession would be regulated by Islamic law. Most succession cases are decided under this provision. There has been growing political attempts to introduce more sharia regulations. It has a common law system influenced by