This book is methodologically unique in scholarly literature on Muslim society. Its originality lies in the fact that the rich material offered by the shari'a courts is given a thorough analysis with a view to drawing conclusions about the present-day phenomena in Arab society and processes that the society has been undergoing in modern times. Aharon Layish examines every aspect of the social status of Muslim women that fi nds expression in the shari'a courts: the age of marriage, stipulations inserted in the marriage contract, dower, polygamy, maintenance and obedience, divorce, custody of...

This volume presents annotated English translations of 72 court decisions handed down by the the Sharīʿa Courts of Adjābiya and Kufra roughly during the period 1930-1970; the original texts (facsimiles and edited documents) appeared in A.Layish, Legal Documents on Libyan Tribal Society in Process of Sedentarization (Wiesbaden, 1998). The documents address personal status, succession, homicide and bodily injury, property, obligation, and attest to the interaction between the sharīʿa representing normative Islam, and tribal customary law, representing...

This volume presents annotated English translations of 74 awards handed down by tribal arbitrators and other legal documents obtained from the Bedouin of the Judean Desert. The documents address such legal issues as blood and sexual offenses, family disputes, inheritance, private transactions in land and water rights, tribal boundaries, contracts and obligations. The documents, some of which date back to the 19th century, provide vital information on the process of Islamization of the tribal customary law in the precinct of the tribal judge. The facsimile reproductions of the manuscripts are...