Law, Religion and the Family in Africa


Book Description

The family is a crucial site for the interaction of law and religion the world over, including Africa. In many African societies, the family is governed by a range of sources of law, including civil, constitutional, customary and religious law. International law and human rights principles have been domesticated into African legal systems, particularly to protect the rights of women and children. Religious rites and rituals govern sexuality, marriage, divorce, child-rearing, inheritance, intergenerational relations and more in Christianity, Islam and indigenous African custom. This book examines the African family with attention to tradition and change, comparative law, the relation of parents and children to the state, indigenous religion and customary law, child marriage and child labour and migration, diaspora and displacement.




Law, Religion and Human Flourishing in Africa


Book Description

A shared interest of law and religion is the advancement of human flourishing, yet there is no common understanding of what it means for humans to flourish and the means by which to attain a flourishing life. The concept of human flourishing is especially important for Africa, where community and national development compete with forces of conflict and scarce resources. In the broadest sense, the concept of human flourishing focuses our attention on having a comprehensively good or worthwhile life, but various religious and legal traditions suggest different norms for measuring the quality of life and designing the institutional structures that could best facilitate and preserve it.




Gender, Religion, and Family Law


Book Description

Groundbreaking theoretical and legal approaches to resolving conflicts between gender equality and cultural practices




Religion, Law and Security in Africa


Book Description

Security is a key topic of our time. But how do we understand it? Do law and religion take different views of it? In this fifth volume in the Law and Religion in Africa series, radicalisation, terrorism, blasphemy, hate speech, religious freedom and just war theories rub shoulders with issues of witchcraft, female genital mutilation circumcision, child marriage, displaced communities and additional issues besides. This unique collection of topics is both challenging and inspiring, providing illumination in troubled times, and forming a sound foundation for future scholarship.




Law, Religion and the Family in Africa


Book Description

The family is a crucial site for the interaction of law and religion the world over, including Africa. In many African societies, the family is governed by a range of sources of law, including civil, constitutional, customary and religious law. International law and human rights principles have been domesticated into African legal systems, particularly to protect the rights of women and children. Religious rites and rituals govern sexuality, marriage, divorce, child-rearing, inheritance, intergenerational relations and more in Christianity, Islam and indigenous African custom. This book examines the African family with attention to tradition and change, comparative law, the relation of parents and children to the state, indigenous religion and customary law, child marriage and child labour and migration, diaspora and displacement.




Religion and Law in South Africa


Book Description

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this convenient resource provides systematic information on how South Africa deals with the role religion plays or can play in society, the legal status of religious communities and institutions, and the legal interaction among religion, culture, education, and media. After a general introduction describing the social and historical background, the book goes on to explain the legal framework in which religion is approached. Coverage proceeds from the principle of religious freedom through the rights and contractual obligations of religious communities; international, transnational, and regional law effects; and the legal parameters affecting the influence of religion in politics and public life. Also covered are legal positions on religion in such specific fields as church financing, labour and employment, and matrimonial and family law. A clear and comprehensive overview of relevant legislation and legal doctrine make the book an invaluable reference source and very useful guide. Succinct and practical, this book will prove to be of great value to practitioners in the myriad instances where a law-related religious interest arises in South Africa. Academics and researchers will appreciate its value as a thorough but concise treatment of the legal aspects of diversity and multiculturalism in which religion plays such an important part.




Family Law in Asia and Africa


Book Description

Originally published in 1968, we were witnessing a new – and welcome – emphasis on Comparative Law, both in the Universities and even the practising profession, together with a quickened interest in the law of family relations. This volume provided a wealth of information for anyone wishing to study these relations in a widely comparative context. The chapters cover not only the basic law of marriage and divorce in a number of developing countries both in Asia and Africa, but also discuss in considerable detail the ways in which matrimonial property is regulated under different systems. This was a highly topical subject at the time, when our own law of matrimonial property was under criticism and active reconsideration. The book also treats such subjects as the eclipse of the patriarchal family in contemporary Islamic law, religious law and the modern family in Israel, the juristic basis and context of Parsi family law, and contemporary family law in Southern Africa.







Law, Religion and Reconciliation in Africa


Book Description

Forgiveness and reconciliation are important moments for the stability of a society and a state. Many African countries have gone through serious social crises in the post-colonial period: genocide, post-election crises, civil and internal conflicts, and outright war. Forgiveness and reconciliation have been necessary to reweave the social fabric and restart the construction of peaceful and prosperous societies. Chapters in this book examine the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and religious councils aimed at peace, along with African traditional approaches, mediation and arbitration councils, post-conflict contexts, and the roles of women and gender, philosophy and theology, and programs of education for peace.




Law and Religion in Africa


Book Description

In our time the study of law and religion is emerging as a wide-ranging and vital academic discipline, with increasingly urgent implications for society at large. Lying at the intersection of a variety of other disciplines ? law, theology, religious studies, political science, sociology and anthropology, to name only the most obvious ? the field of law and religion is generating a burgeoning volume of interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research and study. The current volume is proof of this. The discussion of the relationship between law and religion, as seen from a variety of perspectives in Africa, underscores the critical importance of the issues involved in the everyday life of all citizens. It is accordingly vital for governments to take note of the scholarly results that are produced. We hope that this volume will contribute to this aim.