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Cyber Counselors: The Role of Online Fatwas and Arbitration Tribunals in Redefining Islamic Family Law in Europe
Abstract
This paper explores Islamic websites providing normative content for European Muslim minorities. It focuses on fatwas issued in matters of family law and presents the ways in which authorities associated with these sites deal with the conflicting areas between Islamic law and European legal systems. Furthermore, it discusses how these concepts are incorporated into European legal frameworks through the arbitration tribunals. The Internet has introduced substantial innovation in both production and consumption of Islamic knowledge. This is particularly relevant to European Muslim communities, where experiences of cultural displacement and negotiations on hybridity and authenticity are at the heart of contemporary life. There are thousands of sites providing specific “Islamic” content, ranging from fatwas to video sermons. This paper is based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of six major websites providing fatwas and other normative content to European Muslim minorities. It stems from a larger, compound research project on the production of contemporary Islamic knowledge in Europe, during which more than 600 fatwas have been analyzed between 2006 and 2009. This paper discusses fatwas related to marriage and divorce, and examines the different ways in which they deal with possible conflicts with European legal systems. All the fatwas were analyzed in English and/or Arabic, together with a detailed examination of the context and background of each of the authorities in question. Essentially, this paper argues that the underlying logic behind the fatwa-issuing websites emphasizes the role of the Self, the privatization of faith, and the increasing insistence on religion as a system of values and ethics. It demonstrates that the popularity of fatwa-issuing websites converges with the broader transformation of contemporary religiosity, which promotes a ready-made and easily-accessible set of norms and values that might order daily lives. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how these concepts are later incorporated into European legal systems through the institution of arbitrational tribunals. In such case, the arbiter judges the dispute according to Islamic law, yet his decision is enforceable through civil law courts. This paper demonstrates how these tribunals effectively redefine both Islamic family law and European principle of the territoriality of law simultaneously. Finally, this paper argues that the fatwa-issuing websites and arbitrational tribunals reinforce culturally dominant social networks and, while fueling individualization and privatization of faith, they simultaneously assert conformity and compliance with established religious authorities.
Discipline
Law
Geographic Area
Europe
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries