Rajnaara C Akhtar

By exploring the historic development of marriage laws and changing relationship norms in England, Qatar and Australia; the legal treatment of religious-only unions in light of the family law regime in each country, and the impact of non-recognition, this book reveals the complexities of the law reform needed to tackle these issues. This examination of the differing outcomes for couples who live in England/Wales where cohabitants have no legal rights, Australia where cohabitants do benefit from some legal protections, and Qatar, a Muslim majority state with a modern family law regime which ordinarily recognises religious marriages provides a broad canvas for exploring this issue in depth. The book looks at this very complex issue from a range of perspectives including autonomy, cultural transitions and legal pluralism. It examines the issue of religious-only marriages in order to convey the complex and interwoven narrative which signifies how multifaceted law reform must be in order to adequately respond to these transitioning relationship norms in any given jurisdiction. Of course, relationship norms are not static and they continue to evolve. In light of changing norms and practices, the theoretical framework for this book focuses on the concept of ‘liminality’ or transition, which is being witnessed in the processes and formalities by which Muslims are entering their marriages.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. In principle, couples getting married in England and Wales can choose to do so in a way that reflects their beliefs. In practice, the possibility of doing so varies considerably depending on the religious or non-religious beliefs they hold. To demonstrate this divergence, this book draws on the accounts of 170 individuals who had, or led, a wedding ceremony outside the legal framework. The authors examine what these ceremonies can tell us about how couples want to marry, and what aspects of the current law preclude them from doing so. This new evidence shows how the current law does not reflect social understandings of what makes a wedding meaningful. As recommended by the Law Commission, reform is urgently needed.