"Off the straight path" : illicit sex, law, and community in Ottoman Aleppo
"The legal treatment of sexual behavior is a subject that receives little scholarly attention in the field of Middle East women's studies. Important questions about the relationship between sexuality and the law and about the societies enforcing that relationship are rarely addressed in th...
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| OCLC: | 225870865 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Syracuse, N.Y. :
Syracuse University Press,
c2008.
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| Edition: | 1st ed. |
| Series: | Gender, culture, and politics in the Middle East.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Resource: | Electronic resource |
| Format: | Monograph Note that CRL will digitize material from the collection when copyright allows. |
| Summary: | "The legal treatment of sexual behavior is a subject that receives little scholarly attention in the field of Middle East women's studies. Important questions about the relationship between sexuality and the law and about the societies enforcing that relationship are rarely addressed in the current literature. Elyse Semerdjian's "Off the Straight Path" takes a bold step toward filling that gap, offering a fascinating look at the historical progression of Islamic law's treatment of illicit sex. Semerdjian provides a comprehensive review of the concept of zina, sexual indiscretion, exploring the diverse interpretation of zina crime as presented in a variety of sources from the Quran and hadith to legal literature. She then delves into the history of legal responses to zina within the specific community of Aleppo, Syria. Drawing on a wealth of shari 'a court records, Semerdjian brings to life Syrian society during the Ottoman period. With vivid detail, she describes specific women's lives and experiences as their cases are presented before the court. Semerdjian argues that the actual treatment of zina crimes in the courts differs substantially from sentences prescribed by codifed Islamic jurisprudence. In contrast to the violent corporal punishments dictated in the Islamic legal code, the courts often punished crimes of sexual indiscretion with nonviolent sentences, such as removal from the community. Employing exceptional insight, "Off the Straight Path" presents a powerful challenge to the traditional view of Islamic law, enabling a richer understanding of Islamic society."--Jacket. |
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| Item Description: | Contents: Zina in Islamic legal discourse -- Zina in Ottoman law -- People and court : policing public morality in the streets of Aleppo -- Prostitutes, soldiers, and the people : monitoring morality through customary law -- In harm's way : domestic violence and rape in the Shari'a courts of Aleppo. |
| Physical Description: | xxxviii, 247 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-227) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0815631731 (hbk. : alk. paper) 9780815631736 (hbk. : alk. paper) |