From the London Sunday Times, we learn that Muslim polygamists may get special tax breaks in Britain:

The Inland Revenue is considering recognising polygamy for some religious groups for tax purposes. Officials have agreed to examine “family friendly” representations from Muslims who take up to four wives under sharia, the laws derived from the Koran. Existing rules allow only one wife for inheritance tax purposes. The Revenue has been asked to relax this so that a husband’s estate can be divided tax-free between several wives.

The move is bound to create controversy if it leads to a change in the rules. It is seen as a breakthrough by Muslim leaders who have been campaigning to incorporate sharia into British domestic law.

A reader at Jihad Watch reacts:

So this only applies to muslims? What if one of my native British (non-muslim) friends had more than one wife – would he get a tax break as well? What about the criminal law? Is bigamy no longer an offence then? Or do we have a penal code for muslims and one for non muslims? Isn’t that discriminatory?This takes the biscuit (again)… been saying that too often recently. I wonder what’s next.

Quote from the Times article:

…He (Sadiq Khan, a leading Muslim politician) insisted there was no question of pressing for the introduction of sharia’s criminal code “where people are flogged or have their hands chopped off”. He said: “This is not the thin edge of the wedge.”

Why not? Why not take it a step further?

In Canada, it seems they have. An official there has ruled that Muslims can bypass the legal system for arbitration in family matters and apply “Muslim principles to adjudicate marital and inheritance disputes.”

“It’s a model for the whole world to see how Sharia law can be used in a western society,” Islamic Institute for Civil Justice lawyer Zyad Mumtaz Ali told the Toronto Star newspaper.

Next stop: Stoning?

Update: Mark Steyn and Justin Katz are on the same wavelength in thinking about the Brits’ decision.