ABSTRACT

While there are many books on Islamic family law, the literature on its enforcement is scarce. This book focuses on how Islamic family law is interpreted and applied by judges in a range of Muslim countries – Sunni and Shi'a, as well as Arab and non-Arab. It thereby aids the understanding of shari'a law in practice in a number of different cultural and political settings. It shows how the existence of differing views of what shari'a is, as well as the presence of a vast body of legal material which judges can refer to, make it possible for courts to interpret Islamic law in creative and innovative ways.

chapter |31 pages

From Jurists' Ijtihad to Judicial Neo-Ijtihad

Some introductory observations

chapter |22 pages

The Application of Muslim Personal Law in India

A system of legal pluralism in action

chapter |17 pages

Family Law in Pakistan

Using the secular to influence the religious

chapter |15 pages

Courts and the Reform of Personal Status Law in Egypt

Judicial divorce for injury and polygamy

chapter |15 pages

The Potential Within

Adjudications on shiqaq (discord) divorce by Moroccan judges

chapter |12 pages

Family Law in Post-Revolutionary Iran

Closing the door of ijtehad?