SOAS Research Online

Abstract

In debates over the recognition of Muslim family law in the UK and Canada claims for religious autonomy and religious freedom seeking to operate faith-based dispute resolution have been seen as conflicting with women’s right to autonomy and equality. This chapter explores this debate by looking at the experiences of South Asian Muslim women who utilize both unofficial dispute resolution mechanisms (such as Sharia councils) and more formalized religious bodies (such as the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal) in the UK and draws upon the parity governance model to consider debates on equality and justice. It argues that the extensive public debate about Muslim family law has often been distorted by skewed perceptions, which render invisible the complex motivations Muslim women have in engaging with such community institutions. Furthermore the circumstances that make legal pluralism both inevitable and desirable in many postcolonial countries may not apply to immigrant groups in the West, and multiculturalism may be better pursued through recognition and accommodation within mainstream legal institutions than through a separate minority legal order.