Customary and Shari'ah Law in Arabian Society

ISBN-13: 9780860782995 / Angielski / Twarda / 1991 / 352 str.

R.B. Sergeant

Opis

The society and legal systems of Southern Arabia, both ancient and modern, form the subject of this second collection of articles by Professor Serjeant. His approach has been to make a detailed study of modern social structures and legal customs and to relate these to what we know of ancient society and law. The traditional tribal society of the region, he argues, has preserved in its customary law and practice a very great deal that derives directly from the pre-Islamic period, whereas the sharia ah, the law of Islam, though stemming from the same sources, has often diverged significantly from it. An understanding of the modern situation, therefore, is of immediate relevance to the interpretation of pre- and early-Islamic society. Among the particular topics covered are the interplay between tribal affinities and religious authority, marriage legislation and the "Frankish chancre" or (syphilis), and maritime customary law. From an ethnographic viewpoint, furthermore, these studies record peoples and lifestyles that have been increasingly overwhelmed by contemporary events. Les societes et les systemes juridiques de la Arabie du Sud, moderne et ancienne, sont le theme de ce recueil d'articles par le professeur Serjeant. Il aborde le sujet avec une etude des structures sociales modernes, ainsi que du droit coutumier, puis les rattache A ce qui est connu de la societe et du droit anciens. La societe tribale traditionnelle de la region, affirme-ta il, a conserve un grand nombre da us et coutumes trouvant des origines directes au cours de la periode pre-islamique, alors que le droit de la Islam, le sharia ah, bien qua issu des mA mes sources, sa en eloigne de faA on significative. Le fait de comprendre la situation moderne a donc un rapport immediat avec toute interpretation de la societe islamique A ses debuts. Parmi les themes specifiques que couvre la auteur, se trouvent le droit marital et le "chancre" franc (syphilitique), le droit maritime coutumier, ainsi que la interaction des affinities tribales et des autorites religieuses. Qui plus est, sur le plan ethnographique, ces etudes rendent compte de peuples et de styles de vie qui ont ete de plus en plus bouleverses les evenements contemporains."

Recenzje

’Serjeant’s contribution to South Arabian Studies has been great and it is therefore useful to have so much of his work available in the Variorum reprint series.’ Journal of Semitic Studies

Spis treści

Contents: Preface; The Da’if and the Mustad’af and the status accorded to them in the Qur’an; The Caliph ’Umar’s letters to Abu Musa al-Ash’ari and Mu’awiya; The interplay between tribal affinities and religious (Zaydi) authority in the Yemen; The ’Awdhillah Confederation with some reference to al-Hamdani; Dawlah, tribal shaykhs, the Mansab of the Waliyyah Sa’idah, qasamah, in the Fadli sultanate, South Arabian Federation; Yafi’, Zaydis, Al Bu Bakr b. Salim and others: tribes and Sayyids; The Ma’n ’Gypsies’ of the East Aden Protectorate; A Judeo-Arab housedeed from Habban (with notes on the former Jewish communities of the Wahidi Sultanate); Famine death without loss of honour in ancient Arabia and Yemeni Arhab; The ’White Dune’ at Abyan: an ancient place of pilgrimage in Southern Arabia; Forms of plea: a Safi’i manual from al-Sihr; Two tribal law cases (documents), Wahidi Sultanate, South-west Arabia; Recent marriage legislation from al-Mukalla, with notes on marriage customs; Sex, birth, circumcision, some notes from South-west Arabia; Maritime customary law off the Arabian coasts; Omani naval activities off the Southern Arabian coast in the late 11th/17th centuries, from Yemeni chronicles; Notes on the ’Frankish Chancre’ (syphilis) in Yemen, Egypt and Persia; Notes on some aspects of Arab business practices in Aden; Index.