Protectress of the law

Khouloud Al Faqeeh has shattered the glass ceiling of Islamic jurisprudence. After years of pushing to break into the all-male ranks of Sharia judges in the Palestinian territories, she finally secured a post after scoring among the best — along with another woman — in a recent test for new jurists. They are widely considered to be the first female Sharia judges in the Middle East.

Now Al Faqeeh is setting a new tone in her Ramallah courtroom, where defendants are often shocked to see a woman on the bench. With a style that is part Judge Judy, part Sunday School teacher, she is on a mission to change her society, case by case.

While some associate Sharia with extremist regimes, it is a complex system of jurisprudence with deeply varying interpretations. Even in the officially secular Palestinian Authority, most issues of a personal status — from marriage to inheritance — are decided before a qadi, or judge. Which is why Al Faqeeh wanted nothing more than to be a qadiya.

“In Islam, it says a Sharia judge has to be a Muslim, rational adult'' — not necessarily a man, she explains. “Whenever I would discuss this with the chief judge, he would say, ‘This is tradition.'''

“I did not buy it,'' Al Faqeeh says. “I am a legal person, and, to me, legal issues are stronger than tradition.''

Top in her class at occupied Jerusalem's Al Quds University, Al Faqeeh started her own practice and quickly drew the attention of judges.

They offered the outspoken advocate a position at the prosecutor's office. She turned it down. The chief Sharia judge, Shaikh Tayseer Tamimi, politely suggested she work for the civil courts. She refused. “To me, the challenge was to be a Sharia judge,'' she says. “I wanted to ... break the deadlock.''

Tamimi now says he is “proud'' of her appointment. But not everyone approves. Shaikh Hamed Bitawi, an elected Hamas representative who serves as head of the Association of Islamic Scholars and Scientists, says there are two schools of thought on the issue: that every position but that of a caliph is open to women and that women are too emotional to make legal decisions — as judges or as witnesses.

“I am of the second view because I consider women to be gentle human beings who should not be subjected to difficult situations or decisions,'' Bitawi says. “They cry easily and hence their judgment is tainted with emotions. Moreover, lawyers are difficult to deal with and people who come to courts are angry and violent.''

In October, Tamimi advertised a qualifying test for Sharia judge candidates. Of 45 Palestinians who took the test, nine passed — two of them women. Al Faqeeh was one of the highest scorers.

On the bench only since March, she still gets shocked or amused reactions from Palestinians, who are used to seeing a man in her seat. Women are at first pleasantly surprised but some leave disappointed that she didn't bend the rules for them. But in fact, she won't bend the rules for anyone.

Some defendants on a recent day didn't take the need for two male witnesses seriously, trying to pull strangers from the hallway.

“If you bring two witnesses who don't even know the name of your daughters, how can I rule on something like that?'' Al Faqeeh bellows at a man who works at the headquarters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Often, she says, government employees expect special treatment, which she refuses to give — just as she refused to accept discrimination from the government, a stand Tamimi echoes.
“The Palestinian institutions do not discriminate in job opportunities and the stereotype that Islamic institutions are against the rise of women professionally is wrong,'' the chief justice says.

“The presence of a woman Sharia judge will enrich the institution of the courts, especially when it involves one whose academic and personal qualities make her perfect for the job. ... I have full faith in her capabilities.''