As the largest sectarian group in Lebanon, the Shi’i community has largely been underrepresented and marginalized in the nation’s historical narratives. Interest in the Shi’as of Lebanon has been spurred by the community’s increasing political mobilization since the 1970s. Little work has been done on the Lebanese Shi’as prior to this period, particularly during the French Mandate. The few works that focus on this period examine the lives of the Shi’i religious elites and political zuama with little mention of the ordinary people.. My paper will examine the Ja’fari Shari’a courts, and Lebanese newspapers from within the community as a source of Shi’i social history. The sijillat records of the Ja’fari courts provide a rich source of history by presenting an intimate picture of the social concerns and requests of ordinary Shi’as who are generally silenced in the annals of history. Influenced by the theoretical approach of the subaltern studies group (Gayatri Spivak, 1988; Partha Chatterjee, 1993) and recent studies on sectarianism (Mikdasi, 2000; Pandey, 1990), this paper will attempt to examine how the legalization and nationalization of Ja’fari law under the French Mandate, shaped Shi’i sectarian lines of identity, communal belonging and familial roles within the Lebanese nation. The Ja’fari sect was officially recognized 1926 just as the first Ja’fari shari’a courts were established to administer personal status law. The establishment of personal status law, which was ultimately authorized and protected by the state, allowed each community to carve out a sectarian legal identity. The paper will take a look at various court cases retrieved from the archives of the Ja’fari court system to get a glimpse of the social concerns and judicial practices that carved out the first Shi’i communal public space within the Lebanese nation. The sijillat records give an intimate look at social issues such as divorce, Sunni/Shi’i marriages, parental roles, and age appropriate marriage within the Shi’i population. What were the demands made on this new legal authority representing the community? What were the main issues facing the Shi’i community, and how did the courts address them within this new nation that campaigned sectarian identity as a form of national inclusion? How did it help shape Shi’i sectarian identity through the normalization of family law under the auspices of the Lebanese state? A thorough examination of these cases will shed light on the intricate relationship between religious law, sectarian identity, and the Lebanese state.