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Two Tribal Law Cases (Documents) (Wāḥidī Sultanate, South-West Arabia)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
The general procedure in this case is very similar to that of the aforegoing, but here we have the decision of the tribal muḳaddam (pi. maḳādimah) or headman. Bin ‘Awzar's solution of the problem is, of course, very different from a legal decision in a European court to-day, but our methods would probably fail where decisions such as this are effective in obtaining justice. The two parties are constrained to produce other individuals to give evidence to clear or convict them, on an oath which, if false, they firmly believe will swiftly bring upon them the direst consequences. Bin ‘Awzar, however, envisages a possibility that neither party will be able to produce suitable evidence, and should this happen, he has instructed them to refer back the case to him.
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- Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1951
References
page 156 note 1 Landberg has described how oaths are taken at the tomb of a saint: “On serange en cercle autour du coffin (tābūt), ou le simple tombeau (ḳabr), s'il n'y a pas de tābūt. Si le misdjīd (mosque) ou la ḳubbah (domed tomb) sont petits, on s'aligne devant la porte. Lorsqu' il y a plusieurs personnes appelées à prêter serment, on commence d'abord par une marche autour du sanctuaire, en se plaçant deux à deux, les uns apres les autres. On chante des marādjīz. Leur arrivée est signalée par des salves de fusil… Quelque saiyid ou shaikh est toujours présent à ces cérémonies pour empēcher que le sang coule, car l'excitation est toujours grande. Ce n'est pourtant qu' une partie remise; hors du territoire du walī la vengeance cherche sa vietime jusqu'à ce qu' elle la frappe. Cette pratique de se purger d'une accusation moyennant le serment est la kasamah des anciens Arabes (Arabica V, op. cit., pp. 141–2).
page 166 note 1 For the Ḥawṭah and the Ḥabaṭ, material from Landberg has been utilized in articles in the Encyl. of Islam. These might be consulted. Ṣa'īd is a Ḥabaṭ.
page 166 note 2 naḳaḍ to go away (according to my informants). GI. Dath. gives it the sense of to annul, untie.
page 167 note 1 For the Mashā'ikh of the Wāḥidī area, see Landberg, , Arabica V, op. cit., pp. 189 ff.Google Scholar The Mashā'ikh of Ṣa'īd, Djōl al-Shaikh, al-Ḥawṭah, and Al-Rawṭah, are all descended from a common ancestor, and they claim descent from ‘Abd al-Ḳādir al-Djīlānī.
page 167 note 2 For some notes and sketches of the shapes of tombs, see my The Cemeteries of Tarīm (Muséon, (Louvain, 1949))Google Scholar.