The Sharia Debate in Ontario

Abstract

From 2003 through 2006 a debate developed on the introduction of “sharia law” or sharia arbitration in Ontario, Canada. The author shows how an issue that was in its core about legal principles and practices turned into a debate about women’s inequality, and by extension Canadian national identity and culture. The ensuing public lambasting of Islam reinforced the notion that Islam and gender inequality are inherently incompatible. Important questions regarding faith-based arbitration were thus ignored, and with it the possibility to improve gender equality.