1. Islamic Legal Culture and Slave-Ownership Contests in Nineteenth-Century Sahara.
- Author
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Lydon, Ghislaine
- Subjects
- *
SLAVERY & Islam , *SLAVERY , *FREE African Americans , *SLAVEHOLDERS , *ENSLAVED persons , *LAWYERS , *ACTIONS & defenses (Law) , *MANNERS & customs - Abstract
The article focuses on the legal culture and slave ownership contests in the nineteenth-century Sahara. Litigation between Muslims was common then in the Saharan oases of today's Mauritania. Based on formal Islamic legal references, local jurisprudence and prevailing cultural customs, judges and jurists functioned as legal-service providers. While crime was adjudicated by clan leaders, and town councils oversaw the affairs of the community, Muslim legal-service providers were called upon to issue rulings on civil cases. The practice of slavery among Muslims was said to be more humane as it was recognized in sources of Islamic law and associated with a popular Islamic saying. Muslim jurists addressing the legal concerns of the day regularly discussed slavery cases.
- Published
- 2007