Shari’a in the West

The presence of Muslims in the West is not a new phenomenon. Muslims have been settled in Europe and the Western world for many hundreds of years and even ruled certain parts of Europe for a considerable period of time. However, the recent surge of Muslims in the West is primarily due to economic reasons. It is debatable whether or not many of these Muslim migrants ever intended to make the West their permanent residence. In the last few decades, however, the presence of Muslims in the West has increased significantly, and with this increase their religious institutions, such as mosques and schools, have also increased in number. This raises the question: to what extent should the West cater for the needs of Muslim minorities?

In February 2008 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, delivered a speech in which he argued that the British legal system should accommodate aspects of the family Shari[ah law. His speech caused an uproar. The book under review is a direct response to the speech made by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a compilation of thirteen essays written by some very prominent thinkers and academics. The aim of the book is to examine the possibility of accommodating Shari[ah law within Western countries in tandem with their current legal systems and how this accommodation may impact on them legally, politically, socially, religiously and philosophically. To this end, the essays are deliberately an eclectic mix representing diverse perspectives.