CanadaThis entry examines the debate over Islamic law
in Canada and also introduces Irshad Manji, a con-
troversial Islamic feminist.
The debate over the use of Sharì≠a (Islamic law)
tribunals to settle disputes between Muslims in
Canada has divided the Muslim community. Pro-
ponents of the Sharì≠a courts stress the importance
of Islamic arbitration in cases concerning family
law, although the courts can be used to solve any
civil disputes. In Ontario, some Muslims have been
using Islamic arbitration since 1991, when the
Ontario Arbitration Act opened civil law cases to
alternative arbitration. More recently a movement
to standardize and generalize the use of Sharì≠a
courts has gained momentum, with the goals of
widening the scope of these courts beyond Ontario
to all Canada, encouraging courts to uphold deci-
sions made under Sharì≠a law, and rendering the
Sharì≠a court’s decisions binding for the parties in-
volved. Canadian and international women’s rights
associations have responded by establishing a vig-
orous counter-movement against Sharì≠a law in
Canada.
Retired lawyer Mumtaz Ali, the chief proponent
and spiritual leader for the advancement of Sharì≠a
law in Canada, founded the Islamic Institute for
Civil Justice (Dàr al-Qa∂à±) to forward the move-
ment’s aims in October 2003. Ali contends that
since living under Sharì≠a law is a religious obliga-
tion for Muslims, Canada’s recognition of the tri-
bunal’s legitimacy is an issue of human rights and
religious freedom. Furthermore, he argues that the
right to Sharì≠a tribunals is fully in accordance with
the ideals of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, since the use of these courts will be vol-
untary for all parties involved. However, as Ali’s
feminist critics are quick to point out, it is ques-
tionable whether the Sharì≠a option can be consid-
ered truly voluntary, given the internal pressures
that will be placed upon members of the commu-
nity to seek its services. This point is evinced by
Ali’s rhetorical polarization of the issue, in which
he equates the desire to live under Sharì≠a law with
the status of being a good Muslim. In a 1995 inter-
view/address to his community, he tells Canadian
Muslims that whoever prefers governance by secu-
lar Canadian family law over Sharì≠a law cannot
Family: Modern Islamic Discourses
claim to believe in Islam as a religion and a com-
plete code of life actualized by the Prophet. He also
claims that participation in the movement to estab-
lish Sharì≠a law constitutes a necessary moral duty
for Canadian Muslims.
Although Ali stresses that Muslims are obliged to
seek governance under Islamic law, he has limited
the extent of his Sharì≠a campaign to issues con-
cerning family law, content to leave penal and other
law codes under the scope of secular law. Ali ex-
plains this apparent contradiction pragmatically,
claiming that since family law is an area in which
the Canadian judicial system could feasibly accom-
modate Muslim minority concerns, his decision to
confine his movement to family issues is far more
realistic and practical than trying to establish
recourse to other aspects of Sharì≠a for Canadian
Muslims.
In his online essay, “Complementarity Equanim-
ity,” Ali addresses the singular importance of fam-
ily law for Muslims as a comprehensive system of
rules for married life that governs the “delicate and
diverse aspects of gender temperaments.” He
explains that for Muslims, the ideal of personal,
psychological, rational, and physical harmony be-
tween spouses can be reached exclusively through
reference to Sharì≠a law. Since marital harmony
serves as a cornerstone for moral conduct and
proper social behavior in general, the Sharì≠a-gov-
erned family must serve as the foundation for any
Muslim society. A strict version of gender comple-
mentarity lies at the heart of Ali’s ideology. Al-
though the woman is afforded employment and
property rights, Ali asserts that liberty of the
woman does not run contrary to a general policy of
Islam, which prescribes that the male take on the
role of the head of the household and manage the
affairs of the family.
Muslim Canadian women’s associations have
mobilized against the advancement of Sharì≠a law
in Canada and this issue has garnered the attention
of the international Muslim women’s community
as well. Most importantly, in crafting their state-
ments of opposition, these groups offer alternative
perspectives from which to see the debate to those
provided by Mumtaz Ali. For example, the stand-
point of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women
(CCMW), Canada’s most prominent Muslim
women’s organization, is developed from within an