An Islamic Court In Context: An Ethnographic Study Of Judicial Reasoning

An Islamic Court in Context This page intentionally left blank An Islamic Court in Context An Ethnographic Study of Judicial Reasoning Erin E. Stiles AN ISLAMIC COURT IN CONTEXT Copyright © Erin E. Stiles, 2009. All rights reserved. First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–0–230–61740–7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress. A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: November 2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. This book is dedicated with great fondness to the late Shaykh Hamid and the staff of the Mkokotoni court This page intentionally left blank CON T E N T S List of Illustrations ix Note on Translation xi Glossary of Kiswahili Terms Acknowledgments One Kadhi, Court, and Anthropologist Two Writing a Case: Court Actors and Court Procedure Three From Community to Court: Gendered Experience of Divorce Four xiii xv 1 31 67 A Wily Wife and a Headstrong Husband: Determining Intention 105 Five Witness and Authority: Elders, Shehas, and Shaykhs 131 Six Buying Divorce through Khuluu 159 Seven Conclusion: The Court Is a Hospital 189 Notes 199 Bibliography 207 Index 217 This page intentionally left blank I L LU ST R AT ION S Map 1.1 Map of Zanzibar 9 Photos 1.1 2.1 3.1 The Kadhi’s Court at Mkokotoni The Courtroom and Clerks A Rural Wedding Celebration 24 32 74 Tables 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Zanzibar’s Islamic Courts All Kadhi’s Cases Opened in Mkokotoni Court, 1989–2004 Marital Disputes between Husbands and Wives by Gender of Plaintiff, January 1, 1999–July 15, 2000 All Kadhi’s Cases Opened in the Mkokotoni Court by Type, January 1, 1999–July 15, 2000 Outcomes in the Mkokotoni Court, January 1, 1999–July 15, 2000 20 26 27 28 29 This page intentionally left blank NOT E ON T R A NS L AT ION All interviews and court proceedings were conducted in Kiswahili, and I did all Kiswahili translations myself. Kiswahili terms are italicized. However, words that are used as titles for individuals (Mzee, Bibi, Bwana, Shaykh, Mwalimu) are n