Customising Islamic Law

Matrilineal Muslims of the Indian Ocean

Mahmood M. Kooria, Mahmood Kooria

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040836279
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Gender Studies

Millions of Muslims across the Indian Ocean littoral have historically followed a matrilineal system, where women had better economic and social stability and an upper hand in their personal choices. The system raised serious questions as the Islamic legal tradition evolved in the Middle East, especially when some inheritance customs gave men little to no share in the property. Bringing diverse matrilineal Muslim communities together for the first time, this volume studies their engagements against the patriarchal interpretations of Sharia in comparative and connected perspectives. The comparisons and connections go beyond the Indian Ocean and Islamic world, to the Mediterranean, Sub-Saharan and North African contexts as well as to the Christian, Jewish and Hindu traditions. The contributors explore how and why the followers of the matrilineal praxis defended the system within the legal epistemologies of their religion.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction: Can Sharia be Customized? Entanglements between Matrilineal and Islamic Traditions
• Part I Social Crossroads
• Part II Patterns in Discourses
• Part III Resilient Practices
• Notes on the Editor and Contributors
• Index