Syed Mumtaz Ali was the first lawyer in Canada to be sworn in on the Qur'an instead of the Holy Bible. (The Canadian Society of Muslims)

Syed Mumtaz Ali, the first Muslim lawyer in Canada according to the Canadian Society of Muslims, died Thursday at age 82.

Ali, who was also the president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, notably spearheaded the movement to allow in Ontario the practice of Shariah law, the legal code of Islam based on the Qur'an. In 2003, Ali founded the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice to act as an arbitration body to settle civil disputes. He noted introducing such a system would formalize out-of-court mediation already practised in the Muslim community.

"Muslims believe that every action of their life in all aspects of their life, they must obey the Islamic law and govern themselves accordingly," he told CBC in a 2004 interview.

"We have the law of arbitration act under which all secular groups, all religious groups, all cultural groups should be treated equally."

In 2004, Ontario's former attorney general, Marion Boyd, recommended Muslims be allowed to establish Shariah-based tribunals to settle family disputes. However, Premier Dalton McGuinty rejected the proposal, calling for "one law for all Ontarians."

1st lawyer to be sworn in on the Qur'an

Ali was born in India and earned a BA in theology and an LLB in Muslim law from Osmania University in Hyderabad Deccan. Ali practised law in Pakistan for five years before travelling to the U.K., where he studied at the University of London.

In 1960, he immigrated to Toronto and graduated from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School in 1962.

Ali was the first lawyer in Canada to be sworn in on the Qur'an instead of the Holy Bible.

He practised corporate law for over 25 years with the Ontario government before his retirement in 1990.