Minority Law in Arab States – Governing Religious Diversity

International & Interdisciplinary Conference

Arab states have adopted diverse approaches and employed varied strategies to institutionalize family laws and govern religious diversity, often granting religious communities a significant degree of legal autonomy. These approaches are shaped by historical, social, and political contexts, reflecting the complex interplay between law, religion, and governance.

Compared to Muslim communities, the laws governing religious minorities in Arab states have received little scholarly attention, despite their prevalence, impact, and reform efforts, which they are subject to. In many Arab states, religious communities exercise autonomy in family and inheritance law, allowing their religious leadership to directly shape the rights – and the lack thereof – of their members. Minorities are also disproportionately affected by conflict, which exacerbates family law-related issues such as inheritance and property rights. 

As part of their joint research project, the AGYA project partners organize a conference that foregrounds the complex interplay between legal autonomy and the governance of religious diversity. It convenes scholars employing different methodological and theoretical approaches especially from Law, Anthropology, Political Science, History, Middle Eastern Studies.

Experts and law practitioners join forces and focus on legal pluralism, minority dynamics in relation to the state, gender and inter-religious relationships, as well as Arab and German perspectives on local, national, and regional policies and reforms affecting minority law.