SHARIAsource

The document discussed in this essay is an English translation of an Israeli Supreme Court (the “Court”) decision from 2013 in which the Supreme Sharia Court of Appeals (“Sharia Court of Appeals”) is a respondent. The decision resolved a petition made against the Sharia Court of Appeals ruling that it is impermissible to appoint a female arbitrator in a divorce proceeding before a Sharia Court. The Court overturned the Sharia Court of Appeal’s decision on the basis of Israeli equal rights legislation (and Ḥanafī-style legal reasoning) and remanded it back to the Sharia Courts for further arbitration with the option of choosing a female arbitrator.

In 2014, a Malaysian federal court invalidated an Islamic state law criminalizing the public behavior and appearance of transwomen (people identifying as women and identified as men at birth). The Court ruled that the Malaysian Constitution’s fundamental rights trumped state-legislated Islamic law. It relied heavily on the notion that the Muslims being prosecuted suffered from Gender Identity Disorder (GID), over which they had no control. Evidence of the plaintiff’s GID and information about GID was provided to the Court by two psychiatrists, a psychology, and a sociologist.

This document is an authenticated copy of a court decision from Rabi I 1358 (June/July 1939). The original decision was issued on 13 Rabiah II, 1332 (March 10, 1914) by Yahya b. Muhammad b. Abbas. The decision describes a controversy in the Jewish community of Sanaa and the enforcement of the Pact of Umar on the community. The controversy revolved around a group of Jews that had rejected the teaching of a Jewish mystical text, the Zohar. The document describes that the Imam (Yahya Muhammad Hamid al-Din) brought the controversy to court. The judge rules to allow the Zohar to be taught and institutes a number of orders to maintain the peace and the status quo in the community. The judge also issues several other orders related to the Jewish community, including orders regulating the appearance of Jewish men and women, and a process for resolving potentially new (and therefore illegal) synagogues.