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‘There is no Stranger to Marriage Here!’: Muslim Women and Divorce in Rural Zanzibar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Erin Stiles
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Abstract

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In Zanzibar, many cases in rural Islamic courts involve disputes about whether or not a divorce has taken place outside of court. Zanzibari men have the right to divorce their wives unilaterally through repudiation; and, because many such divorces take place out of the wife's presence, women interpret certain structural events associated with divorce as divorce even when there is no evidence of lawful repudiation. By going to court, women want to legitimize the events of divorce with a receipt of registered divorce. Although the Islamic judge will not validate alleged divorces without proof of repudiation, he does not dismiss the cases as simple misunderstandings. Rather, he stresses the preservation of the marriage through reframing the cases as disputes about marital rights and obligations. Women acknowledge this shift and move to assert their rights to request better maintenance or a court-ordered divorce.

Résumé

Dans les tribunaux islamiques ruraux de Zanzibar, un grand nombre d'affaires portent sur la question de savoir si un divorce a eu lieu ou non en dehors du tribunal. Les Zanzibariens ont le droit de divorcer de leurs épouses unilatéralement par répudiation et, un grand nombre de ces divorces étant prononcés en l'absence de l'épouse, les femmes interprètent comme un divorce certains événements structurels associés au divorce, même lorsqu'il n'existe aucune preuve de répudiation légitime. En se rendant au tribunal, les femmes demandent à légaliser les événements de divorce par un document d'attestation de divorce. Si le juge islamique ne valide pas les divorces prétendus sans preuve de répudiation, il ne les rejette pas pour autant en les qualifiant de simples malentendus. Au lieu de cela, il souligne l'importance de préserver le mariage en requalifiant les litiges de différends liés aux droits et obligations maritaux. Les femmes en prennent acte et poussent pour faire valoir leurs droits à une meilleure pension alimentaire ou à un divorce prononcé par ordonnance du tribunal.

Type
Articles
Information
Africa , Volume 75 , Issue 4 , November 2005 , pp. 582 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2005

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