An Islamic Court in Context: An Ethnographic Study of Judicial Reasoning

This perceptive ethnographic study offers insight into the workings of the contemporary Islamic legal system. Based on fieldwork in Zanzibar, Stiles sheds light on how people understand and use Islamic legal ideas in marital disputes and on the judicial reasoning and litigant activity in Islamic family court. Presenting distinct interpretations, this book shows that Islamic judges (kadhis), clerks, and litigants reason using not only their understandings of Islamic law but also their views of real and ideal marital behavior, local authority, and the court’s role in the community. Stiles’ account provides a compelling and far-reaching contribution to socio-legal scholarship.