Fatwas Regarding Women in Islam

Khayr al-Din Ramli was a man of immense importance in the region of Syria and Palestine during the 17th century. He is best known for his position as a mufti, or educated man who provided fatwas, or legal opinions based on Sharia, the law of the Islamic faith. His word was eventually held in such high esteem that no judges, known as qadis, in Syria or Palestine would overturn it. While Sharia was heavily biased towards men, it contained protections and rights for women.

Khayr al-Din Ramli often provided fatwas on cases involving interactions between men and women (Andrea 58-59).

A standard set within Sharia is that marriages arranged for underage individuals by legal guardians are legally binding and required to be fulfilled by those individuals. However, individuals were allowed to reject a marriage arranged while they were adults. (Andrea 59). However, two recorded cases commented on by Khayr al-Din Ramli established that non-father figures had more limited ability to arrange marriages.

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One case involved a brother who arranged a marriage between his sister and another man. The woman, once she reached adulthood, wished to annul the marriage. Under Sharia, this was permitted as long as the marriage was not arranged by a father or grandfather (Andrea 59). However, her husband claimed that she was unable to do so because "her brother had acted as the agent of her father." The fatwa provided by Khayr al- Din Ramli for this case upheld the conclusion that she could not annul the marriage, “if the husband proves his claim.

" This answer places the burden of proof on the husband, while also upholding Sharia.

Another case advised by Khayr al-Din Ramli involved a conflict between a woman's father and brother over an arranged marriage. The woman, who was an adult at the time, was married by her brother to what is referred to as "an unsuitable man.” It was questioned whether her father had the power to annul the marriage due to the husband's unsuitability. Sharia provided grounds for a woman to divorce her husband “by demonstrating in court that her husband had failed to fulfill his financial or sexual obligations" (Andrea 59). Khayr al-Din Ramli provided a fatwa for this case which allowed the woman two avenues of annulling the marriage.

He decided that, "if her brother has married her off with her consent," "the judge should separate the spouses whether or not the marriage was consummated, so long as she has not borne children, and is not pregnant, and did not receive the dower before the marriage." This option was based on the father's wish for annulment. However, "if she was given in marriage without her consent, she can reject [the marriage]," without her father's involvement due to the fact she was an adult at the time. In this case, she was also permitted to allow her father to represent her and request an annulment, which the judge should grant.

In compliance with Sharia, Khayr al-Din Ramli made several statements respecting the obligations of husbands to their wives. These obligations were to prevent the harm of the wives, whether the harm be due to poverty or abuse. One such case involved a woman whose husband resided far away from her, and had not made adequate arrangements for her financial support. According to the case, "Two just men testified in conformity with what she had claimed, and so the judge annulled the marriage." After this, she remarried and her husband returned seeking nullification of the judgement. Khayr al-Din Ramli upheld the original judgement because, "harm is demonstrated and the evidence for that is witnessed." Another case sought to answer whether a woman would be granted an annulment because her husband "did not pay her stipulated dower expeditiously, nor did her provide support, nor did he clothe her.”

Khayr al-Din Ramli upheld her right to annul the marriage and judged that the husband was required by the command of God to either “maintain her well or release her with kindness." Husbands were required to treat their wives well, and another interesting case involved a physically and verbally abusive husband who repeatedly threatened divorce. The wife was able to prove "that a thrice divorce had taken effect." According to Sharia, a husband could formally divorce his wife by repeating "I divorce you," three times in the presence of his wife and a witness (Andrea 59). Khayr al-Din Ramli issued a statement that validated the thrice divorce, and said that “it is permissible for her to kill him," if he refuses to leave her.

Slander and defamation were established to be crimes in a case where a man claimed that his virgin wife had been previously deflowered. Khayr al-Din Ramli issued a fatwa on this case stating that "if he accuses her without [evidence], he is punished and his testimony is not accepted, as is her right. If he defamed her with a charge of adultery, he must now make a sworn allegation of adultery if she so requests." This provided recourse to the wife, as her husband would be punished if he was unable to prove his allegation (Andrea 61). Particularly harsh rulings were issued to rapists and abductors of women. In one case, a man abducted a married woman and returned to his village with her and raped her while under the protection of the village leader. Khayr al-Din Ramli issued a fatwa that described those who allowed this act to happen as being "like one who punches a hole in a ship," as that act "will drown all the passengers."

The statement prescribed at the least "severe beating and long imprisonment," while also admitted that "the punishment could be execution because of the severity of this act of disobedience of God." Another case involved a married man who abducted and raped a virgin woman, who then managed to escape back to her family. The fatwa for this case established that he would not be allowed to take her back. If he claimed that there was doubt of whether the events happened, Khayr al-Din Ramli stated that "he must [pay] a fair dower," to her. However, if he did not deny the allegations, his status as a married man required him to be stoned.

Even though women were certainly not equal to men under Sharia, it contained provisions to protect women. They were granted divorce under specific conditions, limitations were placed on arranged marriages, and their husbands were responsible for making sure they were not harmed. Violence against women, especially kidnapping and rape, was to be punished severely. Many fatwas were issued, especially by Khayr al-Din Ramli, which upheld these ideals. While he did not have a reputation for being an egalitarian, his statements about various cases upheld the rights and protection of women to the extent prescribed by Islamic law.