Semi-official Turkish Muslim Legal Pluralism: Encounters Between Secular Official Law and Unofficial Shari’a

Abstract

This study provides an account of the current secular Turkish Civil Code, with special focus on family law issues such as consent, age of marriage, registration of marriage, status of religious marriage ceremonies, polygamy and divorce. The study looks at various aspects of the relationship between official law and the Muslim majority’s Shari’a law. Statistics and research have shown that, in connection with certain issues in the socio-legal sphere, Shari’a laws are still operative, in spite of their contravening the Civil Code. This situation has led to some civil courts having to deal with Shari’a issues. This study looks closely at some civil court decisions where judges have taken into account public opinion and local legal postulates concerning the matter in question.