Islamic Sharia Council subservient to the English law." In an April 2013 report, the BBC's "Panorama" asked whether the Islamic Sharia Council was "failing vulnerable women and mothers" by requiring women seeking divorce to give back their marriage dowry (or "mahr"). The question of "khula" divorce often turns on the dower: if the woman is seeking the divorce, she has to return the dower to the man, or else the divorce cannot proceed. Since in traditional Islamic society, men are traditionally the bank account holders and women are traditionally homemakers, the woman has no purchase, and cannot obtain a loan in order to
Islamic criminal law in Aceh committed by Muslims or legal entities in Aceh. In addition, it also applies to offences committed by non-Muslims if the offences are not regulated in the Indonesian Criminal Code, or if committed together with a Muslim and the non-Muslim voluntarily chooses Islamic law. In April 2016 a Christian woman was caned 28 times for selling alcoholthe first non-Muslim to receive caning under the law. Major institutions relevant to the implementation of Islamic criminal law in Aceh include the ulama council (, MPU), the Wilayatul Hisbah (WH, sometimes referred to in English as the "Sharia police"), and the sharia courts ().