Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies

Susanne Dahlgren

Ph.D. (cultural anthropology)

Mailing address:
Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
P.O. Box 4
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland

Tel +358-(0)9-191 23459                      
Fax +358-(0)9-191 24509
Email susanne.dahlgren(AT)helsinki.fi

List of publications in research database TUHAT
Curriculum vitae
Published photographs & photo exhibitions

Areas of Expertise:

• Legal anthropology
• Practice theory
• Islamic law
• Middle Eastern studies

Research Title and Abstract

Rights in Law and at Home. Islamic Shari'a as Formal and Informal Legal Practice

In the Islamic marriage, the spouses agree on certain duties towards each other while signing the contract. Such duties can be viewed as rights that the parties maintain over each other in family life. While classical Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) sets only general terms for marriage (maintenance and dower in exchange for sexual access), popular understandings on duties in marriage tend to be more variegated. National legislation constitutes the third level where such rights are argued. In the family court, these different angles collide. Based on my long time scholarly engagement with the Yemeni town Aden (in Arabian Peninsula), previous material that I have collected while carrying out anthropological fieldwork in Aden and sitting in the Aden Divisional Court as well as my personal contacts with a number of judges and barristers working there, I will look at how spousal rights are argued in the litigation process.

I will study cases filed by barristers, attend litigation in the family court, interview the litigants and collect other relevant material for this study of legal practice. I will ask how does an Islamic family code (Personal Status Code 1992) that heavily draws on customary norms common in more traditional areas of Yemen Republic gets translated into legal practice in urban Aden where, among other differences, gender equality is an accepted norm. In Islamic legal studies, focus tends to be in historical case studies, while there is great need to study the current legal practice, too. Studying legal practice gives information on how shari'a, the divine law of Muslims, in today's world influences the lives of ordinary Muslims.