Judith E. Tucker

Muftis and Matrimony: Islamic Law and Gender in Ottoman Syria and Palestine

This essay explores the ways in which Muslim jurists of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Syria and Palestine elaborated their vision of a gendered society. In the many fatāwā dealing with marriage arrangements and the rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives, muftis constructed a legal discourse that focused on gender difference yet proved flexible and responsive to changing social conditions. This discourse on marriage formed a backdrop against which the judges of the Islamic courts, and members of the general population, further developed the legal doctrines of marriage through their use of the court system. As wives and husbands brought complaints or made claims against each other, and the qādī delivered his judgment, they contributed to the ongoing elaboration of a legal discourse that took account of social reality.

How Has the Field of Middle East Studies Changed in the Last Five Years? An IJMES Retrospective

As editor of IJMES from 2004 to 2009, I spent the last five years in the catbird seat of Middle East studies, where I had the privilege of reading well over 500 article submissions that flowed into the editorial office, some 100 of which were ultimately destined for publication. I characterize the experience as very gratifying on the whole; ours is a field that has attracted talented and skilled scholars who are doing some very creative work—this is not a change per se, although it can be argued that we have a new generation involved in increasingly more theoretically informed projects. Have there been other, more tangible, developments in the field as reflected in submissions to IJMES ? I mention four trends I have spotted over time that may suggest some of the recent shifts—in region, topic, scope, and critical engagement—in research foci.

Introduction to Quick Studies

In this issue, we inaugurate a new front section, Quick Studies . Our intention is to expand the academic mission and international breadth of the journal by opening its pages to discussion of ongoing research in the field of Middle East studies and by inviting reflections on some of the critical questions in our field today.