Some notes for applicants.

Please read these carefully before making an

application for divorce.
1- The ISC is aware of dozens of fraudulent Sharia councils operating in the
UK. Some of these hide behind Post Office Box numbers without an
active website, without an address or phone number, and without an
office that can be approached. Others are conducted in private homes,
in the back of book shops or a small room in a Mosque. Many of these
will offer a poor and, frankly, illegitimate service. There will be little
attempt to contact the spouse, no attempt at mediation or
conversations, little procedure and no transparency. A person looking
for a speedy divorce will be offered the service for an inflated fee. Some
of these bodies are using the ISC logo with miniscule changes and others
are forging our certificates. Please be aware of these scams and check
which body you have approached for help.

2- Islamic law takes marriage and divorce seriously. We have therefore

devised a divorce procedure that fulfils the criteria required by Sharia,
and so this process will take some time to complete. We request you to
be patient and to be aware that we cannot offer a timeframe or fast-
tracking for the process. We are aware there are other councils that
offer speedy divorces on demand, but please respect the fact that our
office does not offer such a service. Muslim scholars are answerable to
Allah Almighty for the work they do and cannot condone or participate
in any service that makes a mockery of the Sharia. If you are in a hurry
for a quick divorce, may we request that you look elsewhere.

3- Joint meetings with both spouses are a necessary part of our process.
During the current pandemic, our office is closed and joint meetings will
be held online via Zoom. Mediation is a requirement of the Sharia; the
joint meeting is not designed to force you into reconciliation but will
help give closure to both sides, will allow both sides to air their feelings,
and will give an opportunity to address any outstanding issues. The
office will close the case if the applicant refuses to attend the joint
meeting. However, a joint meeting will not be held if there are existing
legal orders forbidding contact between the two parties.
4- Our office charges a fee of £400 for the service we offer. Half of this is
paid at registration and is non-refundable. The final invoice is payable
before meetings are conducted. We would prefer payments to be made
by bank transfer or over the phone by debit card. We do not accept
credit cards due to high bank charges. If you are struggling financially,
please inform us with proofs in writing and bank statements for the last
3 months. We can agree a concession, or we can arrange payments by
instalments. Please remember that our scholars and staff put many
hours of phone calls, emails, meetings, reviews and deliberation into
every case. We treat each case independently and often have to endure
much abuse from respondents because of our service. We are a
registered Charity and have kept our fees as low as possible.

5- If you had a civil marriage or if one spouse was sponsored from abroad,
a civil divorce is also required. If a civil divorce is not already in process,
we request that you make an application urgently. This can be
completed online at https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-divorce.
We require at least an Acknowledgement of Service form from the civil
courts to prove that an application has been made.