Negotiating rights in Iraq: Women and the personal status law

Middle East Journal

Volumn 59, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 577-595

  Efrati, Noga ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

LEGISLATION; NEGOTIATION PROCESS; WOMENS STATUS;

ASIA; EURASIA; IRAQ; MIDDLE EAST;

EID: 28844486427     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3751/59.4.13     Document Type: Article

References (145)

1. See reports and photographs in: Al-Zaman, January 14, 2004, p. 1;
2. Al-Zaman, January 17-18, 2004, p. 14;
3. Al-Zaman, January 19, 2004, p. 14;
4. Al-Zaman, January 21, 2004;
5. Al-Zaman, January 22, 2004;
6. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, January 28, 2004.
7. For the full text of the decision see: Al-Ilaf, January 15, 2004.
8. Quoted in Pamela Constable, "Iraqi Women Decry Move To Cut Rights," Washington Post Foreign Service, January 16, 2004, p. A12
9. and in Al-Zaman, January 14, 2004, p. 1.
10. Washington Post Foreign Service, January 16, 2004, p. A12.
11. Al-Zaman, January 17, 2004, p. 1.
12. See for example: Al-Zaman, January 22, 2004, p. 1;
13. Yanar Mohamed, "Victories for Women and Death Threat to Me," Occupation Watch, February 3, 2004, at http://www.occupationwatch.org/ article.php?id=2882;
14. Nidal Taqi, "Al-Munazzamat al-Niswiyya fi Muwajahat al-Qarar 137" ["Women's Organizations in Opposition to Decree 137"], Al-Barlaman al-'Iraqi, January 27, 2004, at http:// www.irqparliament.com/Iraq04/ndal1-26.htm.
15. For more about these organizations see: Suad Joseph, "Elite Strategies for State Building: Women, Family, Religion and the State in Iraq and Lebanon", in Deniz Kandiyoti ed., Women, Islam, and the State (London: Macmillan Press, 1991), pp. 176-200;
16. Naziha al-Dulaymi, "Rabitat al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya" ["The Iraqi Women's League"], al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 5 (1982), pp. 104-116;
17. Marion Farouk-Sluglett, "Liberation or Repression? Pan-Arab Nationalism and the Women's Movement in Iraq", in Derek Hopwood, Habib Ishow and Thomas Koszinowski, eds., Iraq: Power and Society (Reading: Ithaca, 1993), pp. 51-73;
18. Deborah Cobbett, "Women in Iraq", in CARDRI [Committee Against Repression and For Democratic Rights in Iraq] Saddam's Iraq: Revolution or Reaction? (London: Zed Books, 1989), pp. 120-137.
19. See for example a memorandum from 1952 concerning the reasons that necessitated the proposed Personal Status Law, in: Sada al-Ahali, April 29, 1952, p. 2
20. or as summarized in J.N.D. Anderson, "A Draft Code of Personal Law for 'Iraq", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 15 (1953), pp. 43-44.
21. The mahr (plural muhur), according to Islamic law, is a sum of money or other property payable by the husband to the wife as an effect of marriage. Under customary pre-Islamic law the mahr was paid to the bride's father. However, Qur'anic legislation changed the wife's position from an object of sale to that of a party to the marriage contract, enabled her to own property, and required that the mahr should be given to her.
22. Cf. Sabiha al-Shaykh Da'ud, Awwal al-Tiriq Ila al-Nahda al-Niswiyya fi al-'Iraq [The Beginning of the Road Toward Women's Awakening in Iraq] (Baghdad: al-Rabita, 1958), pp. 176, 224, 228 and
23. Naziha al-Dulaymi, Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya [The Iraqi Woman] (Baghdad: al-Rabita, n.d.), pp. 8-9, 34-37, 40-43
24. with Anderson, "A Draft Code", pp. 43-60.
25. Anderson, "A Draft Code," p. 43.
26. "The Shara' Courts Law" of 1923 prescribed, for example, that when a suit which "must be decided in accordance with the Ja'fariya Rules of Shara'" is brought before a Sunni qadi, it shall be referred to a Shi'i 'alim, and a fatwa obtained from him. The decision shall be in accordance with such fatwa. Similarly, when the situation is reversed, a Sunni 'alim must be consulted. See: Iraq Government Gazette, 13 (July 15, 1923).
27. Al-Waqa'i'al-'Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30,1959), p. 8.
28. A detailed analysis of the law can be found in J.N.D. Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status for Iraq," International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 9 (October 1960), pp. 542-563.
29. See the memorandum attached to the law in Al-Waqa'i'al-'Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30, 1959), p. 8.
30. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, January 15, 2004.
31. Mubejel Baban, interview by author, London, August 20, 1997;
32. Bushra Perto, interview by author, London, August 18, 1997.
33. Al-Waqa'i'al-Iraqiyya, p. 785 (March 21, 1963), pp. 1-2;
34. J.N.D. Anderson, "Changes in the Law of Personal Status in Iraq," International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 12 (July 1963), pp. 1026-1031.
35. Al-Mar'a, 65 (1976), pp. 6-7;
36. Farouk-Sluglett, p. 67;
37. Joseph, p. 184.
38. Su'ad Khayri, "Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya Tunadil Did al-Diktaturiyya", ["The Iraqi Woman Fighting Against Dictatorship]" Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 118 (March 1980), p. 120;
39. al-Dulaymi, "Rabitat al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya", p. 106.
40. Joseph, p. 184;
41. Khayri, "Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya Tunadil", pp. 120-121.
42. Al-Dulaymi, Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya, pp. 8-9, 34-37, 41-42;
43. Al-Zaman, August 15, 1959, p. 3.
44. For the Arabic version see: Al-Waqa'i' al- 'Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30, 1959), p. 2;
45. for an English translation see: Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status for Iraq," p. 551.
46. Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status," pp. 546, 551;
47. Phebe Marr, The Modern History of Iraq (Boulder: Westview Press, 1985), p. 172;
48. Amal Rassam, "Political Ideology and Women in Iraq: Legislation and Cultural Constraints," in Joseph G. Jabbra and Nancy W. Jabbra, eds., Women and Development in the Middle East and North Africa (Leiden: Brill, 1992), p. 90.
49. Amal Rassam and Kan'an Makiya ascribed the judge's ability to marry a young couple against their guardian's wishes to the 1978 amendment. It first appeared, however, in the law of 1959. See Rassam, p. 90
50. and Samir al-Khalil [Kan'an Makiya] Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), p. 89.
51. Budur Zaki, "Dirasa fi Qanum al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya," ["Study of the Personal Status Law"], Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 79 (March 1976), p. 92;
52. Layla Husayn Ma'ruf's comments in "Nadwa Hawla al-Ta'dil al-Thani li-Qanun al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya Raqam 188 li-Sanat 1959" ["A Symposium about the Second Amendment of the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959"], Al-Jumhuriyya, September 18, 1978;
53. Su'ad Khayri, Al-Mar'a wa-Afaq al-Tatawwur fi al-'Iraq, [Woman and Horizons of Development in Iraq] (Baghdad, 1975), p. 64.
54. Khayri, Al-Mar'a wa-Afaq al-Tatawwur, pp. 76-77;
55. Zaki, p. 92.
56. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20,1978), pp. 314-315.
57. See: Budur Zaki and Nasrin Nuri's comments in "Nadwat al-Thaqafa al-Jadida Hawla al-Ta'dilat al-Akhira li-Qanun al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya," ["Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida Symposium on the Latest Amendments of the Personal Status Law"] Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida 108 (August 1978), pp. 10-11, 14
58. and Layla Husayn Ma'ruf's comments in al-Jumhuriyya, September 18, 1978.
59. Al-Jumhuriyya, September 18, 1978.
60. Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida 108 (August 1978), pp. 11 and 14.
61. The Official Gazette, 47 (November 25, 1987), p. 7.
62. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20,1978), pp. 314-315.
63. Al-Thawra, February 14, 1978, p. 7.
64. Al-Jumhuriyya, September 18,1978;
65. al-Thawra, February 14,1978, p. 7;
66. Bahija Ahmad Shihab, Al-Ta'dil al-Thani li-Qanun al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya, [The Second Amendment of the Personal Status Law] (n.p.: GF1W, 1978), pp. 34-45.
67. Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 108 (August 1978), pp. 11 and 20.
68. See: Suhad Najih al-Khafaji's three-part article regarding the legal situation of women in Iraq, published in Al-Zaman, January 18, 19 and 20, 2004, which includes a detailed description of the current Personal Status Law.
69. Miss Sabiha Sheikh Daoud, February 21, 1955, Ruth Woodsmall Papers, Box 62, Folder 5, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (SSC).
70. Ruth Frances Woodsmall, Moslem Women Enter a New World (New York: Round Table Press, 1936), p. 115;
71. Mr. D. D. Newson, February 2 1955, Ruth Woodsmall Papers, Box 62, Folder 5, SSC.
72. Al-Dulaymi, Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya, pp. 8 and 37.
73. Mubejel Baban and Bushra Perto, interviews by author, London, August 18 and 20, 1997.
74. Al Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30, 1959), pp. 2-3;
75. Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status for Iraq", pp. 549-552.
76. "Min Qararat al-Mu'tamar al-Thani/960: Tawsiyat Lajnat Mashakil al-Mar'a," ["From the Second Conference Resolutions/1960: The Recommendations of the Committee on Women's Problems"], Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 139 (March 1982), p. 128.
77. For the GFIW's position see: Joseph, p. 184.
78. Sura IV (Al-Nisa'): 129 as translated by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall in The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), p. 110.
79. Zaki, pp. 91-92.
80. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20, 1978), pp. 314-315.
81. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2804 (November 24,1980), p. 1522;
82. The Official Gazette, 18 (May 5, 1982), p. 5.
83. 'A. Sh., "Al-Nahda al-Niswiyya fi al-Irag" ["Women's Awakening in Iraq"], Al-Mu'allim al-Jadid 18 (1955), p. 80.
84. Al-Dulaymi, Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya, pp. 35, 37, 40.
85. Al-Zaman, August 15, 1959, p. 3.
86. For more about the system of divorce in Islam see: Noel Coulson and Doreen Hinchcliffe, "Women and Law Reform in Contemporary Islam," in: Lois Beck and Nikki R. Keddie, eds., Women in the Muslim World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 41-44.
87. Al-Waqa'i' al-Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30,1959), p. 4-5;
88. Anderson, "A Law ofPersonal Status for Iraq", pp. 553-556.
89. Al-Mar'a, 74 (1977), p. 11.
90. Zaki, pp. 93-94;
91. Su'ad Khayri, Al-Mar'a wa-Afaq al-Tatawwur, p. 22.
92. Al-Waqa'i' al-Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20, 1978), pp. 314-316.
93. Al-Jumhuriyya, September 19, 1978, p. 3.
94. See also: Intisar Jawad, "Hawamish 'ala Qanun al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya," ["Notes on the Personal Status Law"] Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 109 (September 1978), p. 52.
95. Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 108 (August 1978). p. 24;
96. Al-Fikr al-Jadid, March 11, 1978, p. 2;
97. Jawad, pp. 54-56.
98. Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 108 (August 1978), pp. 15 and 20;
99. Al-Jumhuriyya, September 19, 1978, p. 3.
100. Al- Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2865 (January 4, 1982), pp. 4-5;
101. Al-Waqa'i' al-Iraqiyya, 3066 (October 7, 1985), p. 708;
102. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 3081 (January 20, 1986), p. 36;
103. Suha Omar, "Women: Honour, Shame and Dictatorship," in Fran Hazelton, ed., Iraq Since the Gulf War: Prospects for Democracy (London: Zed Books, 1994), pp. 63-64.
104. Hala Badri, Al-Mar'a al-'Iraqiyya [The Iraqi Woman] (Baghdad, 1980), p. 52.
105. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 3052 (July 1, 1985), p. 445.
106. General Federation of Iraqi Women, Baghdad Meeting for Women of the World (Baghdad, 1985), pp. 147-148;
107. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2952 (August 8, 1983), p. 589.
108. Al-Waqa'i' al-Iraqiyya, 3081(January 20, 1986), p. 35.
109. See for example: Hamdi al-A 'zami, Muhadarat fi al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya [Lectures on Personal Status] (Baghdad: Matba'at al-Furat, 1934), p. 90;
110. 'Abd al-Karim Rida al-Hilli, Ahkam al-Ja'fariyya fi al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya [The Ja'fari Provisions on Personal Status] (Baghdad, 1947), pp. 99-100.
111. Nazik al-Mala'ika Al-Tajzi'iyya fi al-Mujtama' al-'Arabi [Fragmentation in Arab Society] ('Aka: Maktab al-Aswar, 1978), p. 36.
112. Da'ud, p. 176;
113. Bushra Perto, interview by author, London, August 18, 1997.
114. Al-Zaman, August 15, 1959, p. 3.
115. While some jurists pointed out that the lavv did not define the term "stranger" (ajnabi), for others it was clear that the divorced woman was allowed to marry only a man related to the child within the prohibited degrees of marriage, such as the child's uncle. However, if she married a cousin, for example, who is not prohibited from marrying the child, she would lose her custody rights. Cf. al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 108 (August 1978), p. 15
116. with Ahmad al-Kubaysi, Al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya [Personal Status] (Baghdad: al-Irshad, 1972), Vol. 2, p. 358.
117. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 280 (December 30, 1959), pp. 5-6.
118. Al-Mar'a, 65 (1976), pp. 6-7;
119. Khayri, Al-Mar'a wa-Afaq al-Tatawwur, pp. 70 and 86;
120. Zaki, pp. 94-95.
121. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20, 1978), pp. 316-317.
122. Al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 108 (August 1978) p. 15;
123. Jawad, pp. 59-60;
124. al-Fikr al-Jadid, March 11, 1978, p. 2.
125. The Official Gazette, 5 (February 3, 1988), p. 2.
126. Published in al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 3176 (November 16, 1987).
127. Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status for Iraq", pp. 561-563;
128. Uriel Dann, Iraq under Qassem (Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, 1969), pp. 246-247;
129. Marr, p. 172.
130. Sunni Islam grants agnates preference in matters of inheritance. Thus, if the sole heirs were a daughter and a distant male agnatic cousin, she would lose half her parent's estate to him. Shi'i law, however, does not favor agnates. It divides heirs, excluding the surviving spouse who inherits anyway, into three classes. Class I includes parents, children and other lineal descendants; Class II, grandparents, brothers and sisters and their descendents; and Class III, uncles, aunts, and their issue. Any heir in Class I excludes all those in Class 11 and III. Tbus, the deceased's daughter would exclude brothers, uncles and any male agnates of lower priority. See: Coulson and Hinchcliffe, "Women and Law Reform in Contemporary Islam," p. 46.
131. Mubejel Baban, interview by author, London, August 20, 1997;
132. Bushra Perto, interview by author, London, August 18, 1997.
133. Anderson, "A Law of Personal Status for Iraq", pp. 559-560.
134. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 785 (March 21, 1963), pp. 1-2.
135. Coulson and Hinchcliffe, p. 47.
136. See: article 90 in the 1963 amendment, article 91 as modified by the 1978 amendment (discussed below) and J.N.D. Anderson, "Recent Reforms in the Islamic Law of Inheritance," International and Comparative Law Quarterly 14 (April 1965), pp. 363-365.
137. Zaki, pp. 95-96.
138. Joseph, p. 184.
139. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2639 (February 20, 1978), p. 317.
140. Tariq al-Sha'b, May 16, 1978;
141. Jawad, p. 63.
142. Jawad, p. 64.
143. Al-Waqa'i' al-'Iraqiyya, 2934 (April 18 1983), p. 284.
144. Al-Sabah, September 15, 2005.
145. Cf. article 14 with articles 2(1a), 87-90 in Al-Sabah, September 15, 2005.