Shari’a law and American family courts: Preliminary Findings from Wayne County, Michigan “Shari’a law” has become a national issue. A number of states have experienced legislative activity geared toward banning Shari’a law in American courts. Since the media only reports the extraordinary, we have heard of one or two controversial cases with a Shari’a law dimension. A number of important questions remain unanswered about the issue of Shari’a law in American courts: Are the reported cases representative of the universe of Shari’a law issues that arise in American courts? How do American judges deal with Shari’a law issues that arise in litigation in American courts? Without a study that empirically determines the breakdown of cases with an Islamic law dimension by type of litigation, one can safely assume that family law cases of Muslim Americans constitute an important part of the Shari’a- related litigation. Muslim Family law regulates all aspects of the marital relationship from its beginning to its end and beyond- marital rights, custody issues, property rights, etc. The forum for settling these matters is American family courts. What is the impact of a ban or a restriction on the use of Shari’a law in American courts? How would it affect the rights of men and women? Is it the husband, the wife, or both that is bringing up the Shari’a law aspect? From anecdotal evidence I suspect that it is the women who are raising Shari’a law issues in American courts. If my findings support this anecdotal evidence, then one of the unintended consequences of a Shari’a law ban in American courts would be advancing the interests of men over women’s. To study this important issue, this paper focuses on one part of the country, Wayne County, Michigan. Wayne county includes cities with a significant Muslim presence; cities such as Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck. The parties involved in family law litigation are the parties, the parties’ attorneys and the family law judges. The judges of the Family Law division of Wayne county and family law attorneys with Muslim clientele will be interviewed and asked questions concerning the cases they had: What Shari’a law related issues arose, whether it was the husband or the wife who brought them up, and their resolution. The attorneys will be identified by their advertising in the Arab and Muslim ethnic media and the snowball method.