Page 216 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

islamic law 1035

And, as we see below, in these contexts, an accommoda- tice of Hindus, which allows the whole estate to be dis-
tion was often made between the two legal systems pro- tributed as desired. With respect to the marriage, Mus-
ducing unique forms of Islamic law or at least unique lim Indians of the South do exchange money, but it is
ways in which it was enforced. the bride’s family who makes a payment to the groom,
a custom called dowry. Even the charging of interest on
North Africa loans, an activity that is expressly forbidden in the
In North Africa, the sharia and local custom often dif- sharia, was practiced by some Indian Muslims. There-
fered about such matters as marriage, inheritance, and fore, it seems that for Indian Muslims living in a Hindu
rent for agricultural land. For example, when a Berber society, customary practice was often more compelling
man marries, his family makes a payment to the bride’s than the sharia.
father, not to the bride as specified in the sharia. Nor, in
direct contradiction to the Quran and the sharia, is a Southeast Asia
woman allowed to inherit property under Berber cus- The third region in which the sharia and traditional ways
tom.And the Berber practice of renting farmland by pay- clashed is Southeast Asia. Islam did not come to the
ing a percentage of the crops to the owner goes against region by conquest, so the Islamic legal system was not
the sharia’s demand for a fixed, predetermined monetary imposed on the native peoples of what are now Malaysia
fee. In matters of inheritance, some Berbers simply and Indonesia by force. Thus, unlike Muslims of North
ignore the religious courts of the sharia in favor of cus- Africa and India, where elements of customary practice
tom, and in the matter of land rental, the sharia courts survive despite the presence of the sharia, Muslims in
have come to recognize and administer the customary Southeast Asia continued to follow their traditional cus-
practice. Of course, this becomes even more complicated toms. For example, the sharia has not overridden the cus-
because the customs might differ among the Berbers of toms of the matrilineal societies on the island of
Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria and even among those of Sumatra. In these societies, unlike in the Middle East,
a single country. In other regions of Africa, the sharia people trace their family ties only through their mother’s
and local custom have combined to form a single, com- family. This means that the relatives who matter most
posite legal system. when it comes to inheritance are your mother’s parents
and her brothers and sisters.
India
In India, Muslims have always been a minority among The Ideal
a very large Hindu population. Hindu customs and Versus the Reality
laws therefore remained dominant even among the The assertion that the sharia, as God’s eternal divine will
Indian Muslims.This is particularly true for inheritance for humanity, is applicable to all Muslims, at all times, in
and marriage laws. Several Muslim groups, following all places, and in all circumstances remains an ideal, but
certain Hindu practices, excluded females from inheri- is often modified by the actual local practice of many
tance. Other Muslims, in the south, did direct inheri- Muslims. Customs concerning family and finances, par-
tance to a woman and her descendants. Both practices ticularly when combined as in issues of inheritance and
violate the strict proportions assigned to various male marriage, tend to have a tenacious hold. Even in Arabia
and female family members by the sharia. Moreover, itself some Yemeni tribes refuse to abandon their custom
according to the sharia, no more than one-third of an of denying women the right to own property in contra-
individual’s estate can assigned by him.This means that diction to the sharia. Historical factors such as the man-
at least two-thirds of it must be divided in the stipulated ner in which Islam was brought to a region and the
proportions. Again, some Muslims followed the prac- degree to which people have adopted Islam affect