Islamic Family Law in a Changing World

This is a uniquely comprehensive and up-to-date volume spanning nine regions and 38 Islamic countries around the world. More than a billion Muslims have their lives in such matters as marriage, divorce, maintenance, paternity and the custody of children governed by certain aspects of the Shari'a, commonly known as Islamic Family Law. But as the team who have put together this resource book point out, this does not mean that identical principles apply everywhere. In fact, as the socio-cultural and historical contextualisations which precede each country's legal profile make clear, the practical application of Shari'a principles is often modified by theological differences of interpretation, particular customary practices in the country concerned, and state policy and law.

This volume documents the scope and actual manner of application of Islamic Family Law worldwide. Part of its purpose is the assumption that while changing social conditions - including a commitment to certain universal human rights -- make legal reform necessary, any strategy must be based first of all on the best possible factual foundations. And secondly, since Islamic Family Law has become contested ground between conservative and fundamentalist forces on the one hand and modernist and liberal trends on the other in most Islamic countries, reform must be conceived only in realistic terms and advocated in ways that motivate and empower potential supporters working in their own communities.

This work is a uniquely valuable resource for lawyers, social policymakers and scholars. It is also a contribution to the historical challenge which Islamic societies confront in reforming personal and family law.

An-Na'im explores how the practice of the Shari'a, commonly known as Islamic family law is often modified by theological differences of interpretation, a country's particular customary practices, and state policy, and law.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University, Georgia, USA. Prior to that he was Executive Director of Human Rights Watch/Africa in Washington D.C. for two years. Born in the Sudan and educated at the Universities of Khartoum, Cambridge and Edinburgh, his distinguished scholarly career has spanned 25 years with appointments in various North African, Canadian and US universities. He is the author of Towards an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990) and editor of a numerous volumes on human rights issues from a cross-cultural perspective.