GETTY A book Elham Malea says some Sharia law courts in the UK are more extreme than in parts of Pakistan

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It also says some Islamic clerics support chopping off the hands of criminals while others are in favour of a father having the power to annul his daughter's marriage if he does not approve of her partner. The book was written following a four-year investigation into around 80 Islamic councils across London and the Midlands, in which disputes within Muslim communities are settled.

Elham Manea - Twitter The book, written by Elham Manea, has revealed shocking attitudes in Sharia courts towards women

Author Elham Manea, a Muslim professor and expert on human rights, described the power held in these courts as "totalitarian" and said they were more extreme than in some parts of Pakistan. She gave an example of a British woman who was forced to marry her cousin in Pakistan, where she was raped on her wedding night. The woman returned to the UK and pleaded with a Sharia court for an annulment, which was dismissed outright.

GETTY A Sharia law judge in Syria

In some societies, 12 or 13-year-old women, girls, they are more of less fully fledged women Sharia law cleric

Ms Manea said in her book Women and Sharia Law: "They did not care that she was forced to marry. They did not care that she is being raped in marriage, they do not see that as rape in marriage." She also quoted an imam who supported girls getting married at extremely young ages, explaining there was "no particular age" limit but that "normally, the younger the better”. Another said "puberty is the right age", declaring "in some societies, 12 or 13-year-old women, girls, they are more of less fully fledged women”. Ms Manea's investigation also uncovered shocking attitudes among clerics towards physical punishment and wife beating. She said: "A woman will be beaten in the name of religion. Beaten. And it will be legal." One cleric was said to have told her: "A man should not be questioned why he hit his wife because this is something between them."

Nusrat Ghani - Twitter Tory MP Nusrat Ghani said she was "shocked and concerned" by the allegations

Ms Manea added women from south Asia living in the UK were "up to three times more likely to kill themselves than women in the general population”. The book also claimed that Sharia law courts base some inheritance decisions purely on gender. One cleric said: "We are very happy to give the woman half and the man double because I think this is a very fair way of dealing with the situation." Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani told The Sunday Times she was "shocked and concerned" that women were being treated in such ways "just because if her gender by self-appointed community or faith leaders via Sharia courts”. She said: "There is one law in the UK and that law is set by parliament. No faith-based law trumps the laws of our land."