Ziba Mir-Hosseini is the co-director of the acclamed documentary film 'Divorce Iranian Style', filmed in Tehran and based on this book.

'One of the best, most original and liveliest books on the subject I have ever read ... The author does what few writers on the subject are able to do. She goes beyond the classical text-books of fiqh, and asks how law is actually interpreted, administered and used in Muslim societies.' - Albert Hourani

• Part 1 The Shar'ia, law and social practice - strategies of accommodation: the setting - courts, marital disputes and marriage; legal anatomy of divorce - the Iranian case; legal anatomy of divorce - the Moroccan case; social anatomy of divorce - the law and the practice. Part 2 Areas of tension between law and practice - strategies of selection: filiation and custody in law and practice; validating marriage and divorce; conclusion.