"Based on seven years of ethnographic fieldwork in Denmark this study investigates how Islamic legal processes work before and after the emergence of Islamic divorce councils around 2021. The author begins by laying out a new methodology for the study ofSharia, which leads him to several surprising conclusions. The study for example demonstrates that Islamic legal practices constitute an integrated part of how the Danish welfare state operates, that female Muslim leaders play important roles in Islamic divorce processes, and that the demand for Islamic divorce councils is generated as a byproduct of Muslim women's agency"-- Provided by publisher.
Based on seven years of ethnographic fieldwork this study investigates the emergence of Islamic divorce councils in Denmark around 2021. The study explains how such councils operates and argues that similar councils exist in other countries in mainland Europe.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction
1The Aim of This Book
2Denmark as a Single Case Study of a European Phenomenon
3An Initially Unplanned Study
4On Triangulation
5Ethical Considerations
6Primer on Islamic Legal Terminology
7Remarks on Language
Part 1: The Theory of the Islamic Juridical Vacuum
1 Epistemology and Methodology in the Study of Sharia
1Finding the Object of Study and Asking a Research Question
2Non-Muslims Experiencing nikah Captivity
3The Deferred Nature of an Islamic Juridical Performance
4Levels and Location of Sharia Production
5Islamic Semiotic Resources
6Discursivity
7Emotions
8The Operationalization of the Epistemological and Methodological
Standpoint
2 The Islamic Juridical Vacuum and the Welfare State
1Absence and Presence
2Emergence and Collapse of Presences in the Vacuum
3Demand Projected on to Researchers
4Responding to Demand as a Representative of the Welfare State
5The Epistemic Ceiling
6The Epistemic Community of Presence
7A Field Structured by Demand
3 Substructures of the Demand
1Historical Roots of the Vacuum
2Making Islamic Divorce Rules in Diaspora
3Islamized Coercive Control
4Islamized Post-separation Violence
5Honor
6Arranged and Forced nikah
7Honor-Motivated Control
8Getting Closure and the Religious Dimension
9A Vacuum Generated by Womens Agency
Part 2: The Dynamics of the Islamic Juridical Vacuum
4 Womens Networks and Female Leaders
1Womens Networks from the Perspective of Male Muslim Leaders
2A Processual Perspective on Aminas and Nabilas Practice
3The Significance of Family Support
4Experiences with Male Muslim Leaders
5Polygamy
6A High Demand Uncatered For
7Conclusion
5 Islamic Legal Practices in the Islamic Juridical Vacuum
1Becoming a qadi or Mediator
2A Dangerous Pose
3Editing Divorce Documents and Adopting the Pose of qadi
4Demand Co-produces the Rules
5Oscillating Presences
6Geography of the Vacuum
7Erasing Islamic Juridical Performances
8Conclusion
6 Political Strategies against Parallel Legal Orders
1The Episteme above and below the Ceiling
2Taking Meaningful Political Action above the Epistemic Ceiling
3Navigating below the Epistemic Ceiling
4The Problem of nikah Captivity Unresolved
Part 3: The Institutionalization of Islamic Divorce Councils
7 Until Death Separates Us
1The Formulation of an Islamic Divorce Template
2Until Death Separates Us
3The Practical Details of Islamic Divorce in the Mariam Mosque
4Khankans Method
5Womens Experience of Agency
6Mens and Families Responses
7Security Issues
8Conclusion
8 The Islamic Divorce Council
1The Emergence and Collapse of Islamic Divorce Councils
2Planning a Presence
3The Effect of a Stable Presence
9 The Imam Ali Mosque
1The marja System
2Shia Islamic Divorce in the Field of Presence
3Shia Islamic Divorce in the Field of Absence
4Transnational Presence
Conclusion
1The Vacuum Theory in Condensed Form
2Khidir
3Hidden in Plain Sight
Epilogue
Bibliography
Jesper Petersen, PhD (2020), is associate professor of history of religion specialized in Islamic studies and Starting Grant research leader on the Non-Muslim Islam project at Copenhagen University, funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark.
