Religious Law and Everyday Life: Shifting Practices of Mahr (Islamic Dower) in Legal Pluralistic Norway

The primary objective of this project has been to examine what kind of religious and legal developments shifting practices of mahr signify in contemporary Norway. The main purpose of this project has been to explore what kind of religious and legal developments changes in practices related to mahr entail in Norway today. Through an interview survey of Norwegian-Iranians living in Norway documenting their beliefs and practices of mahr, the project has provided new information on how religious law is practiced and interpreted. A key finding in the project is that mahr is used in differentiated ways. Members of Norway's Iranian diaspora community who participated in this study reported on a wide range of symbolic use of mahr. Some used mahr to emphasize romantic and religious aspirations for their marriage. Although most believed that mahr contravened their ideas of gender equality, they still continued the practice either as a marker of an "Iranian style" marriage and/or because of the financial and legal value that mahr may entail in a Muslim marriage. Another key finding in the project was that mahr is acontextual practice, and what kind of functions mahr entails may depend on where it is practiced and by whom. On paper mahr may speak against gender equality principles, but in practice it serves additional functions and sometimes even works in favor of women?s rights and provide financial security for women in a Muslim marriage. Some also reported that they had used mahr as a legal bargaining tool to obtain a religious divorce (khula) in return for their mahr. The significance that mahr holds for the participants in this study is accounted for in Norway's current regulation of marriage rituals. One of the requirements set by Bufdir is that mahr is not approved, because it is considered to contravene general principles of gender equality. This requirement is based on a narrow interpretation of mahr, which does not take into account the complexities of mahr reported by the participants in this study. This project was set out to document how religious legal issues are practiced and interpreted in a welfare state such as Norway, where the relationship between state and religious law is redefined. The results of the project illustrate difficulties in regulating religion while protecting women's rights. It also reveals that there is a gap between everyday practice of mahr and the state's regulation of mahr. Changes in mahr practices have also served as a lens for exploring other marriage practices found among some Muslim youths in Norway, such as the practice of halal dating. The study of mahr has also contributed to a better understanding of the ongoing religious and legal developments in Norway. During the project period, Norway's legal regulation of Islam as a religion has been documented in a monograph. hence, the project has contributed to increase the understanding of the kinds of religious change and legal pluralism taking place in Norwegian society, as well as to contribute knowledge of how religion and law intersect in everyday life. During the project period, I presented results of the project in various lectures at popular science forums, as well as at academic conferences and seminars. I have also published findings in the project in various articles in scientific journals, as well as disseminated results from the project in newspapers, podcasts, and on various websites. At the end of the project I have published a monograph, an article in an international level-2 journal, as well as three articles in scientific level-1 journal. In 2020, I will also publish two book chapters in scientific anthologies.The project is motivated by the need for understanding how religious legal issues are practiced and interpreted in a welfare state like Norway, where the relationship between state and religious law is being redefined.

Prosjektet har utforsket og dokumentert religiøse og rettslige endringer knyttet til praksiser av mahr i Norge i flere vitenskapelige publikasjoner. Resultater fra prosjektet er også formidlet i populærvitenskapelige publikasjoner, i foredrag og i media. Prosjektet har også etablert en metodologisk tilnærming som åpner for å analysere både hvordan mahr praktiseres som levd religion og reguleres juridisk sett. På denne måten har prosjektet frambrakt kunnskap som er nyttig for å forstå forholdet mellom levd religion og lov, og som kan bli viktig i utarbeidingen av framtidige religionspolitiske reguleringer.

This research project examines the challenges that the combination of state law and the practice of religious legal issues represent in a welfare state like Norway, where the relationship between state and religious law is being redefined. Mahr holds socio-economic importance for the individual, the couple, the family and society at large, and is entangled in the everyday life through marriage. The practice of mahr will serve as an entry into ongoing religious developments, but also the state of legal pluralism in Norway. The concept of everyday religion provides the analytical backdrop of this project, and a gateway towards the study of the many aspects connected to mahr. This project will account for current research gaps by analysing legal and religious developments in a comprehensive manner through the lenses of everyday religion and legal pluralism in Norwegian society. The added value of applying an everyday approach to the study of mahr lies in the perspectives generated on the complexities of law and religion. The project assumes a multidisciplinary approach combining theory and methods from history of religions, legal studies and gender research, merging in a new methodology studying the impact of law and religion on daily life and vice versa. Through a triangular analysis of 1.) legal texts and documents, 2.) qualitative in-depth interviews with young Norwegian Muslim couples who plan to or have just married, and 3.) a comparative examination of debates in Muslim minority and majority contexts, the project will generate theoretical, methodological and empirical analyses of the interplay between everyday religion and legal pluralism in the Norwegian context that until now remain unmapped. In order to fully realise what it means when religious practices are incorporated and considered in the Norwegian legal system, there is a need to understand the complex ways religion and law intersect in the everyday life.