Islamic Law, Gender and Social Change in Post-Abolition Zanzibar

Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-1-107-04841-6
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 200 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 634 g

After the abolition of slavery in 1897, Islamic courts in Zanzibar (East Africa) became central institutions where former slaves negotiated socioeconomic participation. By using difficult-to-read Islamic court records in Arabic, Elke Stockreiter reassesses the workings of these courts as well as gender and social relations in Zanzibar Town during British colonial rule (1890–1963). She shows how Muslim judges maintained their autonomy within the sphere of family law and describes how they helped advance the rights of women, ex-slaves, and other marginalised groups. As was common in other parts of the Muslim world, women usually had to buy their divorce. Thus, Muslim judges played important roles as litigants negotiated moving up the social hierarchy, with ethnicisation increasingly influencing all actors. Drawing on these previously unexplored sources, this study investigates how Muslim judges both mediated and generated discourses of inclusion and exclusion based on social status rather than gender.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stockreiter, Elke

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. The kadhi's courts colonised; 2. Race and the impartial modern judiciary; 3. The kadhis and gender; 4. Litigants and the kadhi's courts; 5. The kadhi's alienation and autonomy; 6. Marriage, materialism and temporary compliance; 7. Property, debt and inheritance; 8. Bargaining for divorce; 9. The kadhis, ethnicity and the perpetuation of master-slave relations; Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Stockreiter, Elke
Elke E. Stockreiter is an Assistant Professor of History at American University, Washington, DC. She obtained her Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and previously held a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Eastern African Studies, and anthologies, such as Domestic Violence and the Law in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa, edited by Emily Burrill, Richard Roberts and Elizabeth Thornberry.