Canadian Sharia: A Semi‐Autonomous Social Field

ABSTRACT Drawing on ethnographic and archival research conducted in a “sharia court” ( dar ul‐iftaa ) in Canada, we argue these religiously binding legal institutions supplement provincial courts by providing a necessary service to pious Muslim women: religiously authorized divorce. Drawing on and developing Sally Falk Moore's concept of the semi‐autonomous social field, we suggest that dar ul‐iftaas in Canada are shaped by three significant forces: a particular variant of Hanafi divorce law, women's need for religious divorce, and the broader Canadian legal landscape. Attending to practices of adjudication in dar ul‐iftaas therefore provides a new perspective on contemporary practices of legal pluralism and on the place of religious law in a multicultural state.