The modernization or methodical ada

The modernization or methodical adaptation of premodern islamic substantive law to present-day contexts its translation into codifications such as now exist in many countries were carried out with the help of ijtihad and “choice” (arabic takhayyur) among the various regulations of (sunni) legal schools. Those involved did not feel bound to respect the dominant majority opinion; minority opinions could also make their way into the codification of the law. An example from the area of divorce: in Hanavite law a women can ask for a divorce only if the man is incapable of consummating the marriage, or if he was absent and had also reached the age of ninety. This made a divorce agreement possible only at a very late date, if at all. On the other hand, the Malikis also allowed a judge to decree a divorce at the request of the wife (Arabic tafriq) in the event that her husband treated her cruelly, refused or was unable to pay for her maintenance, was absent for one or two years, or had an illness that made the continuation of the marriage unbearable for the wife. The regulation of the Maliki school has been widely adopted in modern personal law. Today, it is possible to get a divorce in this way practically everywhere from Morocco to Afganistan.
Furthermore, through legal prescription, optional regulations in islamic law can become compulsory components of a legal transaction. For example, in divorce law certain possible agreemants maybe considered obligatory condition of the marriage contract, the goal being to improve the status of women. They include, for instance, the woman’s right to get a divorce in the event that the man marries again or is absent beyond a certain period of time.
Another area in which reforms were possible is derived from the classical right of the ruler to guide the community in the interest of the welfare of society (arabic siyasa, in the modern translation, ‘politic’). The doctrine of this “guidance of the community” grants the state the right to undertake administrative measures that are in the public interest if this does not involve violating the substantial rules and norms of sharia. This principle develops its effect above all in procedural regulations such as the jurisdiction of courts, the registration of births, marriages, deaths, and such like. Moreover, the introduction of a new court system has been justified on this ground. In most Muslim countries, marriages are now registered, and divorces must be decreed by the court. This creates legal certainty. Thus a valid marriage in a mosque, or a divorce in private or by text message, is not longer possible in these countries, but it is in those states where there are no regulations for a juducial divorce.
Islamic law, which has often been called “sacred” and “in-alterable,” can be adapted to modern conditions – and neces-sities – on the basis of systematic regulations. And it has in fact been so adapted. However, Turkey and Tunisia are the only Muslim states that have outlawed polygyny. In Tunisia, it was abolished on the basis of the Quran’s requirement that a husband treats his wifes equally, which was deemed no longer possible in a modern state. Furthermore, in Tunisia these reforms took place in the 1950s under the than President Habib Bourguiba (governed 1957 – 1987). Elsewhere the institution of polygyny persists, even if it is often restricted, held to legal guidelines, or connected with the woman’s right to divorce.

Polygyny, Marriage, and divorce law.
The reform of personel law is of central importance for the status of the genders and, as we will see later, for the demands made by the women’s movement. The following table compares the premodern provisions of Moroccan law with ists cur . . . . . .