Marriage and religious belief are two of the most intimate facets of an individual's personal life. The intersection between them is not always clearcut or without tension, particularly when centuriesold traditions, social expectations and hierarchical orders forge divergent paths that need to be reconciled. Ibtisam's research has helped her develop a deep understanding of this complex dynamic and the lengths some couples have gone to make it work. Ibtisam is a PhD researcher in the ERC project "Problematizing ‘Muslim Marriages’: Ambiguities and Contestations" hosted at the University of Amsterdam. She is currently writing an ethnographic dissertation on the celebration and problematization of interfaith couples in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. In 2013, she obtained a Doctor of laws (LL.D.) at the University of Malta.

For her law thesis, she conducted a comparative research between the Ecclesiastical Tribunals in Malta and Sharia Councils, Muslim Arbitration Tribunal and the Beth Din in England and Wales. Her research interests include marriages involving Muslims, religious identities, minority communities and intersecting normativities. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx