Reforming Muslim Family Laws in Non-Muslim Regimes: The Role of Civil Courts

FAIN: FEL-262385-19

Yuksel Sezgin
Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY 13244-0001)

Research and writing of a book-length comparative study on the democratization of Islamic laws in Greece, Ghana, India and Israel.

Muslim Family Laws (MFLs) are rules derived from Islamic texts and traditions. There are 18 non-Muslim countries in the world that formally integrate MFLs into their legal systems. Of the 18, four are considered democracies: Israel, India, Greece, and Ghana. Most observers suggest that state-enforced MFLs violate human/women’s rights and are therefore irreconcilable with democracy. If so, then how can non-Muslim democracies go about reconciling MFLs with their constitutional/democratic commitments? This project aims to answer this question by investigating the role of civil judiciaries in regulating MFLs. One conclusion is that although civil judiciaries have not been able to bring about any direct changes in MFLS, they have often played an indirect role by pressuring religious courts/authorities to undertake self-reform. By doing so, they have helped to reconcile MFLs with basic human/women's rights.