Muslim Judges at the Road of Intersection

Abstract

The work of Muslim judges in the shariʿa courts ranges from enforcing specific moral standards to redistributing wealth in accordance with Islamic inheritance norms. Judgments in cases involving divorce, alimony, and the custody of children are nonetheless part and parcel of the judges’ daily routine. This paper uses ethnographic work in Gaza–Palestine to explore whether, how, and why judges assert certain rules and norms on some occasions but make adjustments or accommodations on others during the process of adjudication. It tries to uncover certain ambivalences in the law and society that allow them to adjust situationally. Social factors such as gender, social status, educational background, and class are scrutinized to see how they are played out, together or separately, in the process of adjustment. Orality as a method is central to the judges’ work as well as to the analysis.