Islamic Family Law and Anglo-American Public Policy

This Article discusses the response of the English judiciary and legislature to the differing expectations and norms of the Muslim community living in its midst. Although the emphasis is necessarily on the English experience, it is hoped that the problems and the reactions will have echoes on the other side of the Atlantic. England, perhaps more than the United States, enjoys an ecclesiastical entrenchment in historical terms. Little of this experience however should be left in the ongoing day to day reality of the administration of family law.

This Article proposes that pluralism and diversity must be a central theme of modern English family law, as much perhaps as it is for American family law. The cases discussed herein will make apparent that this theme is not always the stated position of English judicial reasoning.