Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands

Within the scope of this article, the Netherlands, a country where Muslims are in minority, will be analysed. In the Netherlands, there are official religious authorities (arbitration boards) of the Jewish and Christian communities in divorce cases. These authorities play an active role in the final...

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Main Author: Fezanur Gökçen
Format: Article
Language:Arabic
Published: Istanbul University Press 2024-12-01
Series:Darulfunun Ilahiyat
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/6511845BA59C411CA4B5214666A32689
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author Fezanur Gökçen
author_facet Fezanur Gökçen
author_sort Fezanur Gökçen
collection DOAJ
description Within the scope of this article, the Netherlands, a country where Muslims are in minority, will be analysed. In the Netherlands, there are official religious authorities (arbitration boards) of the Jewish and Christian communities in divorce cases. These authorities play an active role in the finalisation of religious marriages. However, there is no similar official religious organisation for Muslims. This situation causes serious problems in the divorce process, especially for Muslim women. Although this problem is sometimes tried to be solved by local imams, sometimes by civil society organisations and sometimes by law, a permanent solution cannot be offered. The solutions offered by the imams are insufficient since they do not have legal sanction authority. Although CSOs provide religious and legal support, they also cannot compel husbands to divorce, making their efforts incomplete. Dutch courts also take Islamic family law into consideration from time to time based on international legal values such as women’s rights and freedom of religion. In this context, in some cases, courts may force husbands to divorce to meet the divorce demands of women. However, such decisions taken by the courts only provide temporary solutions in individual cases and do not address the lack of an overall system. Therefore, to overcome these difficulties in the divorce process of Muslim women, an official Islamic religious authority should be established in the Netherlands. This authority should have the authority to apply Islamic family law and deal with the divorce requests of Muslim women fairly. Within the scope of this article, the official institutions that other religious groups apply for divorce cases, the ways that Muslims can apply for divorce, whether these ways are sufficient or not, and suggestions for solutions will be presented.
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spelling doaj-art-5e72b33c82084c6dacf8a9833787e03a2025-08-20T02:15:19ZaraIstanbul University PressDarulfunun Ilahiyat2651-50832024-12-0135226729010.26650/di.2024.35.1524729123456Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the NetherlandsFezanur Gökçen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6644-6457İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul, TürkiyeWithin the scope of this article, the Netherlands, a country where Muslims are in minority, will be analysed. In the Netherlands, there are official religious authorities (arbitration boards) of the Jewish and Christian communities in divorce cases. These authorities play an active role in the finalisation of religious marriages. However, there is no similar official religious organisation for Muslims. This situation causes serious problems in the divorce process, especially for Muslim women. Although this problem is sometimes tried to be solved by local imams, sometimes by civil society organisations and sometimes by law, a permanent solution cannot be offered. The solutions offered by the imams are insufficient since they do not have legal sanction authority. Although CSOs provide religious and legal support, they also cannot compel husbands to divorce, making their efforts incomplete. Dutch courts also take Islamic family law into consideration from time to time based on international legal values such as women’s rights and freedom of religion. In this context, in some cases, courts may force husbands to divorce to meet the divorce demands of women. However, such decisions taken by the courts only provide temporary solutions in individual cases and do not address the lack of an overall system. Therefore, to overcome these difficulties in the divorce process of Muslim women, an official Islamic religious authority should be established in the Netherlands. This authority should have the authority to apply Islamic family law and deal with the divorce requests of Muslim women fairly. Within the scope of this article, the official institutions that other religious groups apply for divorce cases, the ways that Muslims can apply for divorce, whether these ways are sufficient or not, and suggestions for solutions will be presented.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/6511845BA59C411CA4B5214666A32689islamic family lawnetherlandsdivorcearbitrationmediation
spellingShingle Fezanur Gökçen
Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
Darulfunun Ilahiyat
islamic family law
netherlands
divorce
arbitration
mediation
title Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
title_full Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
title_fullStr Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
title_full_unstemmed Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
title_short Termination of Marriages through Arbitration in Countries Where Muslims Are a Minority and the Challenges Encountered: The Case of the Netherlands
title_sort termination of marriages through arbitration in countries where muslims are a minority and the challenges encountered the case of the netherlands
topic islamic family law
netherlands
divorce
arbitration
mediation
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/6511845BA59C411CA4B5214666A32689
work_keys_str_mv AT fezanurgokcen terminationofmarriagesthrougharbitrationincountrieswheremuslimsareaminorityandthechallengesencounteredthecaseofthenetherlands