The Description of the Divorce Cases of the Court Documents of 19th century Harar

Abstract

Harari courts, which are Sharia courts, have registered different themes of cases that they have entertained for centuries. The registrations of two of the Harari qadis are housed in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa. These Arabic manuscripts cover the period of the pre-Egyptian occupation to Harar from 1242 to 1283 H. (1827-1867 A. D.). They registered marriages, divorces, inheritances, land transactions, and other cases. This study focuses on the description of divorce cases of the two qadis’ registrations. It provides an edition and translation of several examples of divorces that appear in these records. Based on the information given in the cases, this study identifies the Islamic divorce types and their preconditions that the Harari court employed throughout the 40 years of the two qadis’ period. The three types of Islamic divorces identified from reading the manuscripts are : khul ʿ, țalāq, and faskh. The cases show consistency across the years in many matters except in the number of the khul ʿ type of divorce, which is believed to be initiated by woman. These divorce cases show that the qadis registered the final conclusion of the divorce without giving details on the process or procedures that took place for the divorce to finalize. Other matters related to the divorce, such as the maintenance and the guardianship of children, are not mentioned.