THE USAGE OF CUSTOM IN THE CONTEMPORARY LEGAL SYSTEM OF SAUDI ARABIA: DIVORCE ON TRIAL

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 6 Sayı: 11, 395 - 419, 30.12.2019

Sumeyra Yakar

Öz

Islamic law plays a crucial role in the survival of Saudi Arabia and establishes the parameters of what is permissible; within this framework, a great variety of individually unique and culturally specific relationships can exist. The practices of divorce
and woman-initiated divorce are controversial issues amongst Muslim scholars in
general, Saudi Arabia specifically. To a great extent, Saudi Arabia’s cultural, social,
and political features have been shaped by the Wahhābī understanding that adopts
a literal interpretative technic when handling issues regarding marital problems.
Social and cultural environment in which Saudi judges are born and grow up sometimes visibly sometimes invisibly influence these judges’ thoughts and perceptions.
The main questions that the paper aims to answer: how do the Saudi scholars succeed in generating a workable religious system from the accumulation of Ḥanbalī
works? Which legal principles the judges applied and how they utilized the concept
of ‘urf for the court decisions? The descriptive conclusion aims to clarify Wahhābī
approaches to custom (mainly referred to as ‘urf and ‘āda) and compare them to
the decisions of contemporary Saudi judges. Whether the decisions in the contemporary legal system completely depend on the classical Ḥanbalī religious sources
or draw indirectly on customary norms is central to this research. With the intent
of perceptibly unfolding the interaction between ‘urf and legal practice related to
divorce issues, the article examines the usage of custom or ‘urf in the shar‘ī system
of Saudi Arabia and the approaches of Saudi judges towards custom in the divorce
implementation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Saudi jurisprudence, Islamic law, Sharī’a, Sharī’a, Wahhabism, Court divorce (tafrīq), Judicial custom (‘urf)

GÜNÜMÜZ SUUDİ ARABİSTAN HUKUK SİSTEMİNDE ÖRFÜN KULLANIMI: MAHKEMELERDEKİ BOŞANMALAR

Öz

Bu makale Suudi Arabistan’daki güncel hukuk uygulaması ve bu hukuk uygulamasının temel kaynağı olan Hanbeli fıkhı arasındaki ilişkiyi göstermektedir. Günümüz
Suudi Arabistan’ında özelikle Hanbeli fıkıh mezhebine ait klasik kaynaklar temel
kanun hükmünde kabul edilerek, hukuk sistemi bu eserler üzerine bina edilmiştir.
Diğer Müslüman ülkelerden bir nebze farklı olarak Suudi Arabistan’ın sosyal kimliği
ve devletin otoritesi şeriat üzerine kurulmuştur. Ülke sınırları içerisinde kanunlara
dayalı anayasal maddelerden oluşan resmi bir medeni kanun metni yoktur ve bunun eksikliği özellikle evlilik, boşanma, miras gibi kişisel hukuk davalarında çok
daha belirgin bir şekilde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu sistemin bir sonucu olarak bugünkü Suudi mahkemelerinde Hanbeli fıkhına ait füru’ hükümleri Vehhabi anlayışla
yorumlanarak kullanılmakta ve hükümler klasik kaynaklardan güncel problemlerin
çözümüne uyarlanmaktadır. Klasik kaynakların güncel problemlere uygulanması
aşamasında, Vehhabi anlayışının temelini oluşturan kelimelerin gerçek ve sözlük
anlamını mecaz veya yorumsal anlamların üzerinde tutma anlayışı ön plana çıkmaktadır. Hukuki hükümlerin klasikten güncele uyarlanması aşamasında, hakimler
içinde bulundukları toplumun örfünü ve sosyokültürel yapısını göz önünde bulundurmakta, eğitim aldıkları ilim merkezlerinde hâkim olan genel Vehhabi anlayışı
kararlarına yansıtmaktadırlar. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

İslam hukuku, Şeriat, Suudi Arabistan hukuku, Vehhabilik, Mahkeme boşanması (tafrīq), Örf

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