Annelies Glander, Inheritance in Islam: Women's Inheritance in San'a (Republic of Yemen): Law, Religion, and Reality, 1998. European University Studies, Series XXVII, Asian and African Studies, 69. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 141 pp., bibliography.

As the Table of Contents shows, the focus of the book is on the legal aspects of inheritance in Yemen, the focus being on women's inheritance. About two-thirds deals with the textual information and almost a third is devoted to results of interviews she conducted, primarily with women. The book's conclusion is a short summary of what Glander sees as the comparison of normative legal proscriptions with actual practice. Among these, she found that the women stressed the importance of getting guidance from the Quran, that there were definite ideas on what was "good" Muslim practice, the importance of having all the heirs present when decisions about inheritance are being made, the "overriding importance of keeping the family property together," and an "apparent reluctance" of women to insist on immediate payment of shares.

First, it is necessary to comment on the author's style. The English is rather terse, at times written in the style of an undergraduate term paper. For example, in her section on "And why choose Sana'a?" (pp. 20-22) we find a list of short capsule statements about books and articles; these are presented in a somewhat stilted format of "Fatima Mernissi compiled..." "Gabriele vom Bruck furnished..." etc. with no apparent narrative flow. It also reads too much like a development report with sections and subsections that at times barely include any useful points. An editor would certainly have helped here; it is not a text that a major press would have published in such unfinished form. It is hard to understand why some of the less insightful interview data are provided. A questionnaire was given to the Mufti in Sanaa, although Glander was unable to meet him, in part because he was ill. She did receive a faxed response with excessively short comments. For example, her question (p. 77) as to how the qudâ' are appointed and what rules apply receives only "By the ministry of justice (prime minister)." How this helps explain the process is beyond me, let alone the role played by the Prime Minister in the Ministry of Justice. Why are these embarrassingly cursive responses (clearly the Mufti was not interested) on a fax presented verbatim as a formal part of the documentation?

Second, the author is trying to provide both a predominantly linguistic presentation of the legal principles and a sociological study of inheritance by women. The latter part suffers on several accounts. Although Glander has read some relevant ethnography on Yemen, she tends to view Yemeni society only in terms of the case materials she has come across. Thus, Meissner's "conventional ranking" is virtually all she provides for a section entitled "Social structure" with no mention of where Meissner did his fieldwork or how this particular model functions in Yemen as a whole. Previous anthropological research is poorly integrated into the author's own interviews with bank officials and women. The major interview data draw on five women (see below for part of the interview with "Muna"). These are in fact informative biographical portraits, although it is not clear (since the Arabic is not provided in any way) how true the translation provided is to the original. Glander notes that the interviews were "recorded" (I assume this means on tape), but does not indicate whether these are verbatim transcripts (which they certainly do not come across as in translation) or simply tidbits she found useful. I am not saying that these portraits are not useful; the problem is they are not contextualized (for an example of such contextualization, see the article by Martha Mundy in Arabian Studies, 1976). Recording a conversation with one and translating it do not make "sociology" or ethnography. The author's defense (p. 129) against the idea of not being statistically representative is that she was only interested in interviewing women with something to inherit. But this misses the point. It is not just a problem of sampling (in this case with an odd lack of male informants), but also the role of interviews in the process of analysis. Her summary becomes little more than a series of anecdotal comments, even if they may be "true."

Criticism aside, I like this book. Glander uses her competency in Arabic to provide the non-Arabic or struggling Arabic reader with helpful translations of relevant excerpts on Yemeni inheritance. The author is right to chide those who see in Yemen what they want to see, especially the journalistic tendency to exoticize women. Her comments about the gushingly self-serving tabloid style of Swiss journalist Laurence Deonna are right on mark, when Glander remarks (p.22): "Had she [Deonna] stayed longer she might perhaps have found certain aspects not so very hilarious." Rather than stereotyping Yemeni women as chattel, Glander notes that sexism is as readily found in places like England as a country like Yemen, where the women (as Garrison Keilor might be pleased to note) are strong. There is also a naive honesty that makes the role of the author more sympathetic, whatever the shortcoming of her text as a text. Discussing her difficulty in Yemen as a Western female researcher, she notes how it helped that she had ten years experience in the Arab World and was a married woman with children and grandchildren. We can certainly all review the sentiment in her artful (although dreadfully archaic King James English) rendering of the "Ten Commandments of Field Research" excerpted below.

To conclude, this book's amateurish presentation does not rule out its usefulness. I can think of no more fitting comment than that of Glander herself (p. 16): "A number of books published by authors claiming to have insight and postulating to be reliable sources have rendered the Arab world most questionable services; they have rather contributed towards widening the gap in mutual understanding, very often distorting situations by omitting complementary explications, and biassing the readers by satisfying their expectations of the extraordinary or downright incredible." Fortunately, Glander's study of women's inheritance in Yemen is not such a book.

1. Conceptual Parameters

1.1 A note on the state of research

1.2 Methodology of the study

1.3 The Ten Commandments of Field Research

1.4 Possibilities of approach

1.5 Position of researcher

1.6 The Arab female researcher

1.7 The Western female researcher

1.8 Choice of country

1.9 And why choose Sana'a

1.10 A note on transliteration

2. Introduction

2.1 Purpose of this study

2.2 The method adopted to meet this purpose

2.3 A presentation of Part One

2.4 Islamic law

2.5 Inheritance laws in Islam

2.6 Theory and practice

2.7 Women's rights in the context of "Women in Islam"

2.8 Economic background and social patterns

2.9 Pre-Islamic doctrines

2.10 Women's inheritance -- a fascinating topic

3. Part One

3.1 Section A -- The legal system

3.1.1 The sources of law

3.1.2 The judicial system

3.1.2.1 Legal education

3.1.2.2 Legal terminology

3.1.2.3 Historical background of inheritance rules

3.1.2.4 Historical documents

3.1.2.4.1 Koran

3.1.2.4..2 Sharia

3.1.2.4.3 Kitâb al-ahkâm fî-bayân al-halâl wa-l-harâm

3.1.2.5 A handbook of inheritance used in San'a

3.1.2.5.1 Hujb table

3.1.2.5.2 Three examples

3.1.2.5.3 A generation model

3.1.2.6 Yemen legal gazettes

3.1.2.7 A detailed questionnaire discussed with imams

3.1.2.8 A questionnaire submitted to the Mufti

3.2 Section B -- Selected aspects of the legal system

3.2.1 A note on the female share

3.2.2 A note on mahr (dower, bridal money)

3.2.3 A note on munâsikha (postponement of the division of inheritance)

3.2.4 A note on orphans, handicapped children and elopers

3.3 A final summarising note

4. Part Two

4.1 Jurisprudence and sociology

4.2 Social structure

4.3 Marriage arrangements

4.4 Kinship terminology

4.5 Evidence for economic independence of women

4.6 Women's bank accounts -- a contradiction in terms?

4.7 Interview environment

4.8 The interviews

4.9 A note on respective literature

5. Conclusion

6. Bibliography

The Guidelines followed in field research by the author of the text are given in the form of the Ten Commandments of Field Research, the first four of which are a slightly rephrased version of Freya Stark's "Decalogue for Travel", quoted upon successful testing and in tribute to her, and supplemented by six more voiced on the basis of experience gained in the 1990s:

• Thou shalt be capable of accepting values and of judging by standards other than thy own and thy mind be leisurely and uncensorious.

• Thou shalt be aware that rapid judgment of the other's character and sincerity are (sic) a prerequisite for any sound investigation. Thou must proffer a ready quickness in repartee or thy opposite will rusefully give wrong answers.

•Thou must love nature and this must include human nature; thou must have a tolerable constitution and the capacity to eat and sleep at any moment.

• Thou must bring with thee a fair knowledge of local history, economic conditions, political aspects and of the language.

• Thou mayest go native but thou shalt not get carried away. Thou shalt adapt to the local surroundings but remain thyself. If thou integratest into thy field of research to such an extent that thou becomest a stranger in thy own world thou hast gone too far.

• Thou must bear in mind that thou art a guest. Thou must not interfere with circumstances, neither pity nor envy thy hosts. Thy order is to collect facts, and if thou art explicitly asked for thy opinion try to find comparable aspects in thy home country which thou canst offer.

•Thou shalt never refuse an informant -- less so if he or she be introduced by one thou hast chosen thyself, no matter how negligible the outcome may be. A turned-down informant causeth unnecessary problems.

• Thou shalt not invent or misrepresent details about thyself. Thou must not introduce a chance visiting friend or lover as thy husband or beloved brother. And thou must never make advances to a native out of curiosity or on the pretest of obtaining genuine information more directly. an informant cajoled on false promises and turned down may become a dangerous enemy.

• Thou shalt be frank and modest. Thou shalt tell thy informant that thou art not familiar with their code of conduct but ready to learn. Ask them to help thee behave inoffensively and according to their expectations. And beg them, instead of giving a fake answer, to candidly tell thee if a question thou raisest inconveniences them.

• Thou shalt not expect the people back home to understand or believe thee. If thou art not prepared to be considered an outsider and suspected of highly unbecoming aspirations thou art well-advised to stay at home with the crowd and uphold the popular mind.

4.8.5 Muna: illiterate wife of a land owner, a rich heiress, "controls" family property inoffensively, example of a part-munâsikha

Muna proved the most difficult person to find access to. She has a reputation of being withdrawn and is said to try and avoid meeting foreigners. It took several conversations with her husband before an interview could be arranged.

Muna is the illiterate wife of a well-established land owner, the son of a renowned Qadi. Both families own an impressive number of houses in Sana'a, including very valuable ones in the old city, and large plots of land outside San'a. She was married the "old way" as both she and her husband tell independently. The marriage was arranged between the two fathers who had also negotiated the transfer of land to take effect upon the death of Muna's father. The daughter had only seen her future husband through slits in curtains, and the man had only seen his future wife from a window while she had busied herself in the courtyard. Her mahr consisted of gold, dresses and cosmetics, all given to her at the time of marriage. She moved into her husband's house which belongs to him. When traffic in old Sana'a started to become "a nuisance" and tourists came in ever greater numbers, the husband decided to move to a quieter, healthier place and refurbished a house in Ar-Rawda, an ever more popular residential area between Sana'a and the Airport. It is an old house surrounded by vineyards, but equipped with the necessary conveniences to facilitate Muna's household duties. Her husband does all the shopping for the meals she prepares. Muna purchases what she wants for herself and the children. Although she shares an account with her husband at the bank, she asks her husband for any money she needs to do her shopping, and if she does not spend all of it keeps the rest and saves it in a cupboard. Whenever she needs to make a purchase, she asks for money again, and never touches what she has been saving.

"And how and why do you not run an account of your own?"

"When my father died, I inherited land and houses. The houses are let, and the land is used for agricultural purposes. All this brings money which is paid into the account under my name. My husband arranges and manages all this and he tells me about all the movements effected. As a matter of fact he also discusses with me all he does with his own plots of land, he converses with me and never takes a step without asking me what I think of it. You see, I am a very practical person, and I am sure my husband is pleased with this. When I got married people commented on the fact that I had been lucky to marry 'up the ladder'; my father had only been a merchant, but my husband's father was a Qadi. However, my father had been a very acute merchant and I learned a lot from him while still at home. I was not sent to school since this was not considered necessary, but I am not stupid. If anything happened to the men in our family I would know what to do and when to go to court. But as long as this is not necessary I prefer to stay at home. I know my husband likes to meet foreigners in Sana'a, partly because he rents our houses to them, partly because he likes to see their way of life. I do not like to meet them. There is nothing I could learn from them. I would not want to see my children imitate them. when my husband told me about you and insisted I should meet you I told him straight away that he could tell you what you want to know. But he kept telling me you do not want the information from him but from me personally. so I agreed to his inviting you for lunch. I never expected you not to stay in the mafraj with him after I had brought in the food and was surprises when you got up and followed me into the kitchen. When you said you would not eat with my husband if I did not share the meal, and took bread out of the oven yourself and talked to the children, I was at a loss what to do. When you told me about your grandchildren I felt I should be kind to you. It made me happy to see you enjoy my meal and eat it properly. When you insisted on helping me do the washing up and swept the floor I thought I must show you he other side of my life, the afternoon. This is why I dressed as I would have done for my Yemeni lady friends and am now sitting in the women's mafraj with you. I told my husband to pick you up by sunset and drive you home, as is becoming for a good woman."...

---

Return to Yemen Reviews