No abstract

Chapter summaries vi List of figures xii List of abbreviations xix List of contributors xx Series Foreword xxii Acknowledgements xxiv 1. Introduction 1 2. What people say about smartphones 27

This article focuses on the personal narratives of Palestinian Muslim women whose mothers-in-law contributed to the demise of their marriage. Based on 200 interviews with women who brought their cases to the Shari'a courts of Jerusalem and Taibe, this research indicates that interference by the mother-in-law in the life of married couples is one of the main reasons that Palestinian Muslim couples separate and sometimes divorce, even though divorce is considered a taboo. As a result of the co-residency and the meddling of the mother-in law, Palestinian women learn about their Islamic rights to separate housing, and then take steps to live separately from their husbands and abusive in-laws, and in some cases even seek divorce.

No abstract

In the past, women may have been afraid to approach the court because they thought it would harm their family's reputation and honor. Parents would have also discouraged such a move. This paper features the stories of fifty-four Palestinian Muslim women who appealed to the shariʿa court in West Jerusalem during the years 1996-1999. The women came to the courts to claim material support (nafaqa) from their husbands. Women sued their husbands for several reasons, the most prominent being: interference in the couple's life from the husband's family, violence on the part the husband, economic hardship, and immoral behaviour of the husband.