Women before the qāḍī under the Abbasids

Mathieu Tillier (1, 2)

1 IFPO - Institut Français du Proche-Orient
2 IREMAM - Institut de Recherches et d'Etudes sur les Mondes Arabes et Musulmans

In this article, I examine the appearance of Muslim women before the judge during the Abbasid period (132-334/750-945), both in theory and practice. The cases involving women found in law books suggest that they came freely to the court, especially for familial or marital purposes, and that the judges employed some women as court auxiliaries. However, a comparison of judicial manuals and the biographical literature shows that a woman's appearance before the judge could create a social disturbance and that not all women were allowed to appear in court. I argue that the social distinction between those who could leave their houses--and thus come before the judge--and those who could not correlated with the social hierarchy.

Mots clés: Abbasids; judges; courts; procedure; women; social hierarchy

Domaines: Histoire

Mathieu Tillier. Women before the qāḍī under the Abbasids. Islamic Law and Society, 2009, 16, pp.280-301. ⟨halshs-00582725⟩