Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States: A Comparative Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy (Amsterdam University Press - ISIM Papers series)

255 Pages·2007·1.16 MB·English

by  Lynn Welchman

WWOOMMEENN AANNDD MMUUSSLLIIMM FFAAMMIILLYY LLAAWWSS
WWoommeenn aanndd MMuusslliimm FFaammiillyy LLaawwss iinn AArraabb SSttaatteess:: AA CCoommppaarraattiivvee OOvveerrvviieeww ooff
WW
OO
TTeexxttuuaall DDeevveellooppmmeenntt aanndd AAddvvooccaaccyy ccoommbbiinneess aann eexxaammiinnaattiioonn ooff wwoommeenn’’ss
MM IINN AARRAABB SSTTAATTEESS
EE
rriigghhttss iinn MMuusslliimm ffaammiillyy llaaww iinn AArraabb ssttaatteess aaccrroossss tthhee MMiiddddllee EEaasstt wwiitthh
NN

ddiissccuussssiioonnss ooff tthhee ppuubblliicc ddeebbaatteess ssuurrrroouunnddiinngg tthhee iissssuueess tthhaatt aarree rraaiisseedd AA
NN AA CCOOMMPPAARRAATTIIVVEE OOVVEERRVVIIEEWW OOFF TTEEXXTTUUAALL
DD
iinn pprroocceesssseess ooff ccooddiiffiiccaattiioonn aanndd aammeennddmmeenntt.. AA nnuummbbeerr ooff ssttaatteess hhaavvee

MM
rreecceennttllyy eeiitthheerr ccooddiiffiieedd MMuusslliimm ffaammiillyy llaaww,, oorr UU
SS DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTT AANNDD AADDVVOOCCAACCYY
Women and Muslim Family Laws in hhaavvee iissssuueedd ssiiggnniiffiiccaanntt aammeennddmmeennttss oorr nneeww LL
II
MM
Arab States: A Comparative Overview llaawwss oonn tthhee ssuubbjjeecctt.. TThhiiss ssttuuddyy ccoonnssiiddeerrss tthheessee
FF
AA
of Textual Development and nneeww llaawwss aalloonngg wwiitthh oollddeerr ssttaattuutteess ttoo ccoommmmeenntt MM
LLyynnnn WWeellcchhmmaann
II
Advocacy combines an examination. oonn ppaatttteerrnnss aanndd ddyynnaammiiccss ooff cchhaannggee bbootthh iinn LL
YY

LL
tthhee tteexxttss ooff tthhee llaawwss,, aanndd iinn tthhee pprroocceesssseess bbyy
AA
WW
women’s rights in Muslim family wwhhiicchh tthheeyy aarree ddrraafftteedd aanndd iissssuueedd.. IItt ddrraawwss
SS

II
law in Arab states across the Middle oonn oorriiggiinnaall lleeggaall tteexxttss aass wweellll aass oonn eexxtteennssiivvee NN

AA
East with discussions of the public sseeccoonnddaarryy lliitteerraattuurree ffoorr aann iinnssiigghhtt iinnttoo pprraaccttiiccee;; RR
AA
debates surrounding iinntteerrvveennttiioonnss bbyy wwoommeenn’’ss rriigghhttss oorrggaanniissaattiioonnss BB

SS
aanndd ootthheerr ppaarrttiieess aarree ddrraawwnn oonn ttoo iiddeennttiiffyy TT
AA
women’s rights in Muslim family aarreeaass ooff tthhee llaawwss tthhaatt rreemmaaiinn ccoonntteesstteedd.. TThhee TT
EE
SS
law in Arab states across the Middle ddiissccuussssiioonnss aarree sseett iinn tthhee ccoonntteemmppoorraarryy gglloobbaall
East with discussions of the public ccoonntteexxtt tthhaatt ‘‘iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaalliisseess’’ tthhee ddoommeessttiicc
debates the issues that are raised. aanndd rreeggiioonnaall ddiissccuussssiioonnss..
ISIM SERIES ON CONTEMPORARY LL
YY
MISUIMSL SIMER SIOECSI OENTI ECOS NTEMPORARY MUSLIM SOCIETIES NN
NN

WW
EE
LL
CC
HH
LLyynnnn WWeellcchhmmaannnn iiss sseenniioorr lleeccttuurreerr IISSBBNN--1133 997788 9900 55335566 997744 00 MM
AA
NN
iinn IIssllaammiicc aanndd MMiiddddllee EEaasstteerrnn LLaawwss,,
SScchhooooll ooff LLaaww aatt SSOOAASS ((SScchhooooll
ooff OOrriieennttaall aanndd AAffrriiccaann SSttuuddiieess))
aatt tthhee UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff LLoonnddoonn..
WWWWWW..AAUUPP..NNLL
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 1
Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 2
isim series on contemporary muslim societies
TheISIMSeriesonContemporaryMuslimSocietiesisajoint
initiativeofAmsterdamUniversityPress(AUP)andthe
InternationalInstitutefortheStudyofIslamintheModern
World(ISIM).TheSeriesseekstopresentinnovativescholarship
onIslamandMuslimsocietiesindifferentpartsoftheglobe.
ISIMwasestablishedin1998bytheUniversityofAmsterdam,
LeidenUniversity,RadboudUniversityNijmegen,andUtrecht
University.Theinstituteconductsandpromotesinterdisciplinary
researchonsocial,political,cultural,andintellectualtrendsand
movementsincontemporaryMuslimsocietiesandcommunities.
Editors
AnneliesMoors,ISIM/UniversityofAmsterdam
MathijsPelkmans,ISIM/UniversityCollegeUtrecht
AbdulkaderTayob,UniversityofCapeTown
EditorialBoard
Nadjeal-Ali,UniversityofExeter
KamranAsdarAli,UniversityofTexasatAustin
JohnBowen,WashingtonUniversityinSt.Louis
LéonBuskens,LeidenUniversity
ShamilJeppie,UniversityofCapeTown
DenizKandiyoti,SOAS,UniversityofLondon
MuhammadKhalidMasud,CouncilofIslamicIdeology,Pakistan
WernerSchiffauer,Europa-UniversitätViadrianaFrankfurt(Oder)
SeteneyShami,SocialScienceResearchCouncil
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 3
WOMEN AND MUSLIM FAMILY LAWS
IN ARAB STATES
A COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF TEXTUAL
DEVELOPMENT AND ADVOCACY
Lynn Welchman
ISIM SERIES ON CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM SOCIETIES
amsterdam university press
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 4
Coverdesignandlay-out:DeKreeft,Amsterdam
ISBN 9789053569740
NUR 741/717
©ISIM /AmsterdamUniversityPress,2007
Allrightsreserved.Withoutlimitingtherightsundercopyright
reservedabove,nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,stored
inorintroducedintoaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inany
form or by any means (electronic,mechanical,photocopying,
recordingorotherwise)withoutthewrittenpermissionofboth
thecopyrightownerandtheauthorofthebook.
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 5
to Akramal-Khatib
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 6
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 7
Contents
Preface 9
1. Introduction 11
2.Codification of Muslim Personal Status Law in Arab States:
principle and processes 19
Currentdebates:BahrainandIraq 22
Legislation,judicialdiscretionandpoliticalprocess 26
3.Arab State Codifications and Women’s Rights Advocacy
in the Third Phase of Family Law Reform 33
InternationallawandMuslimfamilylaw 34
Women’srightsadvocacy 37
Recentlegislativedevelopments 40
4.Sharªi Postulates, Statutory Law and the Judiciary 45
Tunisiaandthesharªipostulate 46
Judicialinterpretationandlegislativedirection 48
5.Registration Requirements 53
Unregisteredandªurfimarriage 56
Overview 59
6.Capacity and Consent 61
Minimumageofmarriage 62
TheJordaniandebateonraisingtheminimumageofcapacityformarriage 65
Guardianshipinmarriage 68
Theroleoftheguardian 72
Overview 75
7.Polygyny 77
Constraintsonpolygynyincontemporarylegislation 78
Lawfulbenefitandfinancialcapacity 79
Notificationrequirementsandconsentofthewife 81
Divorceoptionsandvalidityissues 83
Overview 86
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 8
CONTENTS
8.The Marital Relationship 89
Dower 90
Maintenanceandobedience 93
Specialstipulationsinthemarriagecontract 99
Misyarmarriage 102
Overview 105
9.Divorce 107
Statutoryapproachestounilateraltalaqandjudicialdivorce 107
JudicialkhulªinEgypt 112
JudicialkhulªinJordan 116
Otherapproachestojudicialkhulª 119
Divorceasajudicialprocess 122
Compensation 125
Post-divorcerightstothemaritalhome 130
Overview 131
10.Parents and Children 133
Periodofcustody 134
Allocationofcustody 137
Paternityandadoption 142
Overview 149
11.Concluding Comment 151
List of Statutes Cited 157
Selected Statutory Provisions 161
1. MarriageGuardianshipandCapacity 161
2. Polygyny 167
3. TheMaritalRelationship 170
4. Stipulations 180
5. JudicialKhulªandcomparabledivorceprovisions 184
6. Compensationforinjurious/arbitrarydivorce 187
Notes 191
Glossary of Arabic Terms 229
Bibliography 233
Index 243
AUP-ISIM-IS-BW-Welchman-22:BW 24-04-2007 19:22 Pagina 9
Preface
ThisbooktracesandcomparestheapproachesofdifferentArabLeaguemem-
berstatestoasetofissuesinthefamilylawcodificationsthatapplytotheir
majorityMuslimpopulationsastheyappearintheearlyyearsofthetwenty-
first century ce. Looking at ‘text’ in this way has become rather unfashion-
able in at least some parts of the Western academy. This is mostly due to
disciplinarydevelopmentsinthespecialistfieldsandintheprofilesofschol-
ars joining them – which, as elsewhere in scholarship, serve to locate and
date earlier scholarship not only by years but by approach and perspective.
Some well-deserved criticism has been made of the positivist, state-centric
and‘Orientalist’approachofcertainprominentWesternscholarsofIslamic
lawofpreviousgenerations.Thisforewordisnotmeanttobeadoublebluff;
I’m not going to say that like others in my field I am aware of the limita-
tions of state-law-focussed analysis of the legal field but having shown my
awareness, will do it anyway. It is rather to affirm the continuing signifi-
canceandinterestofstatutorycodificationsofMuslimfamilylawintheArab
states of the Middle East and North Africa to an English-reading audience
otherthanpractisinglawyersand‘experts’.Itisabundantlyclearthatstatu-
tory law tells either only part of the story of ‘the law’, or only one story
among many. That (part of the) story is still worth telling.
Following critiques of colonial-era academia, a recognition of the politi-
cal contingency of scholarship has happily led to ‘incentives to modesty’ on
thepartofsomescholarscurrentlyworkinginthearea.Suchmodestyisall
the more in order in light of the neo-imperial nature of political engage-
mentswiththeArabregionatthecurrenttime;thediscoursesofpost-colo-
nial scholarship do not always recognise the full implications of this
frameworkforthecontemporaryacademicenterprise.Howevertheyarepo-
sitioned,scholarsintheWesternacademyneedtobeclearabouttheframe-
work of ‘the West’s’ current engagement with these issues. Humility and
personalrigouraboutthedifferentlimitswithinwhichweeachwork,along
with aspirations to push them, remain helpful guiding principles.
9