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"
Ban on sharia law family law disputes under any body of laws except Ontario law, in part to prohibit arbitration under religious laws. In the United Kingdom, Sharia has also become a political issue. A "One law for all" campaign seeks to ban sharia councils and arguing this is "the only way to end discrimination suffered by Muslim women". In 2015, the Conservative Party Home Secretary Theresa May called for an investigation into the application of sharia law in England and Wales if Conservatives win the General Election. A day later the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, told a radio interviewer, he was opposed