Julie Macfarlane
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199753918
- eISBN:
- 9780199949588
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753918.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter explores the identity of Muslims in the West as both “newcomers” and “outsiders.” It explores the meaning of shari’a—guidelines for living as a good Muslim—for Muslims in non-Muslim ...
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This chapter explores the identity of Muslims in the West as both “newcomers” and “outsiders.” It explores the meaning of shari’a—guidelines for living as a good Muslim—for Muslims in non-Muslim states, and addresses some of the most common misapprehensions about its content and significance. Widespread recourse to informal Islamic marriage and divorce processes among North American Muslims, whatever their level of formal religiosity, offers a working example of the development of a North American shari’a. Two recent political debates—in Ontario (2003–2005) and the United Kingdom (2008)—have set the stage for a further examination of how the secular state might respond to the existence of a parallel private ordering system of Muslim family practices.Less
This chapter explores the identity of Muslims in the West as both “newcomers” and “outsiders.” It explores the meaning of shari’a—guidelines for living as a good Muslim—for Muslims in non-Muslim states, and addresses some of the most common misapprehensions about its content and significance. Widespread recourse to informal Islamic marriage and divorce processes among North American Muslims, whatever their level of formal religiosity, offers a working example of the development of a North American shari’a. Two recent political debates—in Ontario (2003–2005) and the United Kingdom (2008)—have set the stage for a further examination of how the secular state might respond to the existence of a parallel private ordering system of Muslim family practices.
