Shari’a Courts and Councils in the West

Ashleigh Barbe-Winter, Adam Possamai

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

To discuss the way Shariʿa is perceived and practised in Western countries, this chapter covers the debates with regards to its more official application in Shariʿa courts and councils in the area of family law first in Western countries in general, and then in four specific Anglophone countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada. These four countries are all English-speaking Common Law jurisdictions and have similar approaches to family law adjudications. All four have developed alternate dispute resolution (ADR) requirements of mediation or arbitration into their family dissolution processes with the aim of reducing workloads in the civil courts. One of the main issues with regards to these councils, as this chapter covers, is based on gender issues among Muslim women. The chapter then ends with a discussion of the lack of presence of a Habermasian type of dialogue on Shariʿa in the public sphere despite these countries being post-secular societies.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRoutledge Handbook of Islam in the West
EditorsRoberto Tottoli
Place of PublicationU.K.
PublisherRoutledge
Pages331-342
Number of pages12
Edition2nd
ISBN (Electronic)9780429265860
ISBN (Print)9780367211783
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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