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In this article the development in France, Germany and the Netherlands of a recognition policy towards the Islamic divorce by unilateral repudiation (talaq) is examined. Since the unilateral repudiation has lost some of its unilateral character in the legal orders of several Islamic States in recent times, there is a tendency within European States towards considering the Islamic talaq as a divorce with 'judicial proceedings'. As a result, the conditions for recognizing a talaq become less severe. Nevertheless questions on the gender aspect, on procedural guarantees, and on provisions taken after a talaq, require a cautious approach. They may give rise to grounds for invoking public policy justification against recognition. This public policy concept with regard to Islamic talaq has undergone a different development in the three European States considered. Arguably, in order to develop a common European approach, one has to take account of the policies of other European States and of developments in the Family Law Codes and legal practices in Islamic States as well.

This volume provides new insights in the concept of shari'a in the West, and sets out a framework of how shari'a in the West can be studied. The premise of this volume is that one needs to focus on the question 'What do Muslims do in terms of shari'a?' rather than 'What is shari'a?'. This perspective shows that the practice of Sharia is restricted to a limited set of rules that mainly relate to religious rituals, family law and social interaction. The framework of this volume then continues to explore two more interactions: the Western responses to these practices of shari'a and, in turn, the Muslim legal reaction to these responses