Book Review: In the House of the Law: Gender and Islamic Law in Ottoman Syria and Palestine
| Author | Haleh Afshar |
| DOI | 10.1177/096466399900800311 |
| Published date | 01 September 1999 |
| Date | 01 September 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
phenomenon of female violence and the way it has been constructed in law and crim-
inology, and it is a pity that this book does not offer such a discussion. It does raise
serious and disturbing questions, but fails to tackle them with rigour.
MARY CHILDS
Faculty of Law, University of Manchester, UK
JUDITH E. TUCKER, In the House of the Law: Gender and Islamic Law in Ottoman
Syria and Palestine. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998, 229pp., $35.00
(cloth).
Judith Tucker’s excellent study of a number of court rulings concerning marriage,
divorce, parenting and sexuality in the 17th and 18th century Ottoman era is both
interesting and instructive. Concentrating on decisions made by judges in Damascus,
Jerusalem and Nablus, Tucker offers a challenge to: ‘what seems to be an ahistorical
and incomplete vision of what Islam has to say about, and do with, gender’ (p. 9).
Focusing on the Hanafi school, which is reticent in the use of hadith (reports based
on the judgements made by the Prophet), Tucker notes the difficulties faced by judges
who seek to develop legal thinking while conserving the basic tenets of Islamic law.
This contextualised, historically specific study is an important contribution to the
continuing discussions about Islamic law: whether it is about rational interpretation
and extension of laws, as often argued by Shiias jurisconsults, or whether it is merely
about obeying the will of God and implementing the Koranic laws as they stand. The
former school of thought is of the view that reason must be utilised in the interpre-
tations of the teachings of the holy Koran, whereas the majority Sunni schools of
Islamic law are more likely to contend that lawyers must, on the whole, rely on God’s
wisdom and not interpose their mind between God and people (Afchar, 1977). Twen-
tieth century Islamists who advocate the universal implementation of the laws for the
umma (the peoples of Islam) tend to support the latter argument. Tucker clearly values
the importance of locality and also the important part played by the judges in pro-
tecting women and their rights.
This study may be seen as a foil against the sometimes indiscriminate tendency of
some groups to extend Islamic laws without regard for the specificities of time and
place. Tucker analyses the legal construction of gender during a relatively calm period
of Islamic history. Looking at decisions made concerning the validity of marriage con-
tracts, Tucker underlines the importance given by both lawyers and couples to the
contractual nature of marriage. Both partners had the obligation to secure a stable and
harmonious domestic environment. The centrality of the perception of stability and
harmony in the construction of this legal discourse meant that a woman’s consent had,
in most cases, to be secured for a marriage contract to be valid. Only fathers and
grandfathers had the right to arrange marriages for girls who were minors. Otherwise
a woman who was legally major had the right to refuse a match and arrange her own
marriage (p. 51).
Tucker notes the tensions that continued to exist between women’s legal rights and
entitlements and local customs and practices that had no basis in Koranic teachings.
In this respect the judges were involved in a continual and energetic process, seeking
to condemn customs and practices such as virginity tests and bartering of brides. Once
married, obedient women’s entitlement to nafaqeh maintenance was recognised, as
was the legal obligation of a husband to provide for his wife and keep her in the style
to which she had been accustomed (p. 60).
Tucker underlines the fact that Islamic marriages are not merely for reproductive
BOOK REVIEWS 423
07 Reviews (jl/d&k) 22/7/99 11:16 am Page 423
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