(RNS) North Carolina became the seventh state to prohibit its judges from considering Islamic law after Gov. Pat McCrory allowed the bill to become law without formally signing it. McCory, a Republican, called the law “unnecessary,” but declined to veto it. The bill became law on Sunday (Aug. 25). The state joins Arizona,…
When the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice announced it would begin offering Sharia-based services in Ontario, a subsequent provincial government review gave qualified support for religious arbitration. However, the ensuing debate inflamed the passions of a wide range of Muslim and non-Muslim groups, garnered worldwide attention, and led to a ban on religiously based family…
Integrating Islamic law in family law in European and North American societies poses a serious threat to women’s rights – and to national integrity, writes Elham Manea, Swiss-Yemeni political scientist Every time the suggestion of introducing Islamic law in Western legal system is mentioned, it is tempered by its proponents with the sentence: this would…
Earlier this week a debate broke out after representatives of as well the Norwegian Islamic Council as the Norwegian court of law said they might be open for a national sharia council, judging in family matters. A number of politicians, as well as Muslim representatives, has spoken against such an institution. Foreign minister Jonas Gahr Störe…
Since The Globe and Mail daily newspaper began staffing its Afghanistan bureau full-time in 2006, it has sent a number of female news correspondents to the country. In light of the current controversy over Afghan women’s rights, this article features four journalists who reflect on their own experiences in the country. Jane Armstrong notes the…
