Treatments of Islamic Law "Sharia" in California State Courts
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Marcus, Anthony
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Lingenfelter, Sherwood
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Intercultural Studies
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2020
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
248
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Intercultural Studies
Text preceding or following the note
2020
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This study examines the treatment of the Islamic Law in the United States Courts for selected areas of the law pertinent to the Sharia application within the State of California. The study contrasts the application of the Sharia by the American judges and compares the outcome to the Islamic law rules. The data comes from the California Superior and Appellate courts' records, a combination of the published and the unpublished cases that interacted with the Islamic law on one level or another, directly or indirectly. This led the California court to explore the factual allegation of the Islamic law topics presented in the process of understanding the evidence submitted. The study uses comparison-based methods to analyze the data in order to understand how the American courts treat Islamic law with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution in mind. The main finding of this study supports my central argument that the United States judges do not analyze or apply the rules of Sharia, but they are equipped to protect the Constitution from any foreign or demotic religious law. The outcome of the clash between the two legal systems impacts the Muslim immigrants to the United States on many different levels: it deprives them of the application of their divine law, impacts their religious practice, and impacts them socially, based on whether they assimilate or resist the United States legal system. This study contributes missiologically by bridging understanding to each side of the two competing legal systems by explaining one to the other. This understanding promotes peacemaking initiatives in the light of a lucid view to the role of Sharia in the lives of our Muslim neighbors in contrast to the stereotype promulgated by the media about Sharia and Muslims, and in turn, this clarity will encourage the American society to extend hospitality to our Muslims neighbors.