There is a tendency in the West to exaggerate the gap between
the evolution of Western family laws and the evolution of family
laws in Muslim countries. By comparing the changes in the legal
definitions of marriage and the relationship of the spouses in
French law, the secular laws of Turkey, and the laws of North
African countries, this article reveals similar patterns in
legal evolution on the northern and southern shores of the
Mediterranean. In contemporary debates regarding Muslim identity
in South Asia no issue is as prominent or as hotly contested as
the character and social role of Islamic law. Though the
controversies are directly relevant to present day concerns the
questions themselves are neither new nor innocent of colonial
influence. The existing corpus of Islamic law in the
subcontinent owes a great deal to the legacy of colonial jurists
who systematised and gave shape to Anglo-Muhammadan law over
many decades. Dans l'aire du temps des dernières décennies du
siècle, il semble nécessaire et suff