Shari’a and Everyday Life in Sydney

ABSTRACT This article investigates how Shari’a is experienced in the everyday life of 57 Muslims from Western Sydney. It focuses on their opinions about its application in Australia, and on how they negotiate their lives around the necessity or non-necessity of adhering to Shari’a principles. The findings show that their observance of Islam tends to be negotiated in their everyday life within the framework of the Australian law, to which they show strong adherence. Respondents strongly reported the inaccurate picture of Shari’a that the media have painted. For this reason, the informants are reticent to have discussions in the public sphere about the implementation of officially recognised Shari’a within an Australian legal system for fear that it would stoke the flames of Islamophobic sentiment. This is an impediment to the development of a post-secular Australia.

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