Experiencing ‘nikah Captivity’ in the West

Gendered Conflicts over Ending Muslim Marriages

Bibliographic Data

ID13061369
AuthorsAnika Liversage (0000-0003-2087-0284, VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume11
Issue2
Pages215-239
Publication date2021-09-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Muslims in Europe (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2211-792X • E-ISSN: 2211-7954
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/22117954-bja10039
OpenAlexW3201777027
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited46

Based on interviews with Muslim minority women and Islamic authorities, this article proposes a step-based model for understanding Muslim divorce processes in diaspora. Such processes are highly dependent on individual women’s embedding in gendered geographies of power: The analysis shows that second-generation immigrant women generally are quite easily able to put a full end to unwanted marriages. In contrast, first-generation immigrant women may end up living in yearlong ‘ nikah captivity’, unable to have their nikahs (their ‘Muslim marriages’) dissolved, even though they have obtained a divorce under Danish law. When (ex)husbands keep (ex)wives in such nikah captivity, it can be regarded as a type of post-separation violence, facilitated by the migration-induced separation of Muslims from Islamic institutions

Captivity · Danish · Diaspora · Immigration · Islam · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Theology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Philosophy

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