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This article aims to contribute to the growing scholarly literature on the implementation of shariʿa-based family law codes by describing and analyzing the gender implications of religiously inspired judicial activism in relation to judicial divorce through khulʿ. The article highlights two functions played by family court judges and other legal professionals. First, I argue that Egyptian family court judges and other court personnel, such as court experts and court-appointed arbiters from al-Azhar, enjoy considerable discretion in interpreting and implementing the personal status codes. Second, the article argues that legal professionals sometimes use the court and other legal spaces as a platform to articulate alternative visions of family and marriage, as well as to voice anxieties over a perceived increase in female-initiated divorce. The article situates these contradictory practices against the background of the contestation of early twenty-first-century reforms, which challenged male authority in the family, in particular the 2000 law of judicial khulʿ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Pravnik is the property of Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of State & Law and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract As with other family law regimes, Muslim family law in Egypt plays an important role in shaping gender norms. In this article, I discuss adjudication by family courts during the period 2008-2013. I argue that the most important developments in this regard are: (1) standardisation of the way in which court rulings are written down, which contributed to a normalisation of the male-dominated nuclear family; and (2) the significant inclusion of Islamic sources in court rulings. A central question in this regard is how judges without a background in classical Islamic jurisprudence have applied the modern legal codes derived from shari‘a. I argue that a move towards greater standardisation of practice has taken place through a closer union between law and religious morality, with Quranic verses and the Sunna being used by judges in creative ways. Thus, shari‘a is continuously reinscribed in state law and its meaning construed in ways which differ from classical Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). I also highlight the importance of key contextual factors, such as judicial training, time pressure, and the influence of computer technology, behind these developments.

In addition to the many factors leading to parental alienation syndrome (PAS), including the narcissistic injury felt by the abandoned parent, or the custodial parent's personal difficulty, there are further factors unique to Arab society—including strong influence by the extended family on the child. Although all the components of PAS exist and are well known to the shari'a courts, no parallel concept is found in the Arab legal lexicon. This article presents 1 case of a shari'a court hearing that illustrates this phenomenon. The conclusions indicate that the shari'a court considers this a serious phenomenon and sees coping with the situation as an essential and preliminary condition to the custody hearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is increasingly common to speak of 'civil marriage,' that label falls far short of capturing the complexities of marriage. This Essay asks what might it mean for U.S. law to take seriously the civil and religious, contractual and covenantal, individual and communal claims about marriage. Muslims, Jewish, and Christian claimants alike struggle to navigate their religious beliefs about marriage and divorce and the expectations (and requirements) of the state regarding family law. The Essay suggests a way forward through a more explicitly pluralist approach that takes the interplay between law and religion seriously. Key Points for Family Court Community: Many legal discussions wrongly break marriage into simple categories of 'civil marriage' and 'religious marriage' and mistakenly assume that these elements of marriage can be separated., For many people, the religious aspects of marriage and divorce are more important than the civil aspects., Recent controversies over shari'a tribunals for family law in the United Kingdom and Canada will not remain isolated, and more controversies about marriage and divorce will soon arise in the United States for religious individuals., We should be 'conscious pluralists' regarding family law and consider both religious and civil aspects of marriage and divorce in law-creating and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some Western countries with Muslim minorities, there has been debate in the last few years about the role of Shari'a in the context of domestic family law. In Australia there has been a negative response to the adoption of Shari'a, as this form of law has been seen as divisive, patriarchal, and inconsistent with the notion of the rule of law. Underlying these responses to Shari'a has been the implication that Islamic law was/is backward and patriarchal whereas Western law was/is both secular and egalitarian. The aim of this article is to do three things: first, to show the extent to which matrimonial settlements by Muslims in divorce cases reflect a variety of personal practices and strategies toward Shari'a and Australian family law; second, to examine the values of Australian law and how law as a “form of practice” excludes Muslim values; and third, to situate this debate within the multiple modernity thesis and argue that, to move the matter further, we should look into working toward a new multifaith pragmatic modern project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If the legal status of women wishing to end an unhappy marriage has undoubtedly improved through the codification process of personal status law in Egypt in the twentieth century, it still remains very unequal in comparison to the privileges enjoyed by men in that field. Moreover, the practical effects of these legal reforms can be questioned. This chapter will study marriage breakups in Egypt through both legal and sociological approaches. Legal texts governing family law will first be examined to expose the different ways marriage can be broken up and how the reforms were legitimated by reference to sharî'a principles. Then the various obstacles that impede the effective implementation of these reforms will be exposed, to stress that the study of law should capture the language of law in action and not only of law in books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the association between features of legal proceedings in divorce and the emotional adjustment of divorced persons among a heterogeneous, mixed-gender sample of 312 divorced Muslim Palestinian citizens of Israel. The findings show that legal factors had only a limited association with the emotional adjustment of the respondents. The only legal factor studied that contributed significantly to the respondents' adjustment was their satisfaction with the duration of the legal process. Neither satisfaction with treatment of the case nor with the legal representation made a significant contribution. Nor did any of the objective features of the process: initiation, prior attempts to resolve the conflict, prior suits for divorce, representation in court, or the actual duration of the court proceedings. In contrast, socio-demographic factors and post-divorce life changes did have an impact. Being better educated, employed, and male predicted better adjustment, as did having remarried and having better housing conditions than before the divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]