Managing Marital Disputes in Malaysia: Islamic Mediators and Conflict Resolution in the Syariah Courts

A trend found in many Islamic societies in recent years has been the increasing regulation of family life by Islamic law and a corresponding move away from customary law and informal conflict resolution procedures. The situation in Malaysia, particularly in urban Malay society, is no exception here. Several studies already exist of the nature and extent of Malaysia's Islamic judicial system but the general tendency has been to ignore the actual operation of the syariah courts and related in...