Dissertation Research: Modern Law, Traditional Marriage: The Relationship between Islamicization and Marriage Practices in Sudan

Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

0109607 Asad / Jolin This dissertation project is a study of the relationship between law and marriage practices in Khartoum, Sudan, focusing on cases in Islamic law which involve the husband's responsibility to provide for his wife and her duty to obey him. Through an examination of legal codes, marriage contracts and archives, observations of courtroom proceedings and interviews with men and women involved in divorce proceedings in two different communities, this project will provide answers to two distinct but interrelated questions: Is the Islamic law promulgated recently in Sudan substantially different from the secular law previously applied there, or is there a continuity in modern Sudanese law that distinguishes it from Sudan's' pre-colonial Islamic past? If the law practiced in Sudan today is distinctively modern, how has the Islamic legal tradition evolved? The information from this study will contribute to understanding on law, tradition and the relationship between religion and the state. The data to be collected will provide information that can be compared with studies of law and marriage in other Islamic states, and will address studies of Islamic movements in secular states. It will advance our understanding of the transformation of traditional into modern societies, will advance the education of a young social scientists, and will improve our understanding of this important region of the world.