ABSTRACT
In Italy, there is no Islam, there are Islams (in plural). Muslims do not belong to a monolithic reality. Rather, they constitute an ethnic, linguistic, and national minority. None of these elements can be used to organically label Muslims in Italy, who are actually part of a multiplicity of systems of thought, lifestyle, and behaviour. In this chapter attention is focused on the way Muslims interpret religious sources and, while interacting with the Italian legal system, variously define what Sharia shall be. This is more evident when referring to some sensitive questions, such as those related to personal status, from Islamic marriage and divorce to adoption and inheritance. At the same time, the political and legal concerns about these matters go hand in hand with an incessant state of emergency, from immigration to religion-inspired terrorism, under which Muslims are often considered sources of undemocratic values and conflicting coexistence. Moreover, the need to prevent religion-inspired terrorism leads the state to use legal measures that complicate the equal application of constitutional provisions, including those relating to Italy’s supreme principle of secularism.
