Interfaith marriages across the Mediterranean Sea: Spouses sailing between state law and sharīʿah

Abstract Marrying at the intersection of religious and national provisions, spouses-to-be navigating the Mediterranean Sea offer a privileged observatory of potential mismatches between state legislations and religiously sensitive practices in family matters. Access to citizenship, legal residence, family reunifications, related conjugal effects, Ummah membership and offspring’s rights can indeed be either facilitated or prevented, depending upon the partners’ ability to be validly married. Focusing on Italy, this article sheds light on the fluid complexities of so-called ‘mixed marriages’ or ‘inter-marriages’, whilst examining legal and social interactions between civil and sharīʿah-compliant endogamous or exogamous relationships. Building upon empirical investigations and adopting an inductive approach, the analysis unveils flexible adjustments as enacted by transnational couples crossing confessional boundaries within the framework of sharīʿah. Offering insights into the lived experience of cross-Mediterranean couples, the essay suggests that Islamic provisions, intertwined as they are with state legal systems and socially embedded practices, deserve a nuanced understanding.