Religion, human rights law and the rights of the child: complexities in applying the Sharia in modern state practices

T application of laws that are ostensibly divinely inspired remains a complex subject in today’s world.1 The implementation of Islamic law, the Sharia, poses significant challenges to both constitutional practices and modern human rights law.2 The compatibility of the Sharia with modern human rights laws continues to provoke considerable heated yet inconclusive debate.3 The present article examines the rights of the child from the perspective of the Sharia with particular reference to its application in modern state practices. In highlighting the continued relevance of the Sharia principles in domestic laws, it engages with problematic yet contentious practices such as child marriages, the so-called “option of puberty”, and the prohibition of adoption in classical