Arab American University Faculty of Law organized a lecture titled “Shariah Judiciary, Theory & Application”, to highlight the Sharia judiciary work in Palestine, judicial rulings and legal implementation mechanisms, the Sharia courts components, and the assets of work in them at the Palestinian Authority territories compared to those in the occupied Palestinian territories in 48. In addition to address Palestine’s high divorce rates. A group of the Jurisprudence and Law Department students attended the lecture.
Part of the lecture
The lecture was moderated by Professor of Jurisprudence and its Principles at the Faculty of Law Dr. Khair-Aldeen Taleb and was opened by the Head of the Jurisprudence and Law Department Dr. Medhat Hamad, stressing the importance of these meetings in bridging the gap between the theoretical curriculum and practical reality in all its details. He pointed to the need to present theoretical curricula into practical reality through such seminars, which directly contact law students and the courts, making their future task more nice and easy.
President of Jenin Shariah Court Judge Abdulla Harb, talked about the history of establishing Shariah courts in Palestine, their evolve stages, most importantly what’s developed in it through benefiting from Arab countries experiences in this field, and statistics related to filed divorce lawsuits in the Islamic courts. Stressing that Shariah Court continuously develop and it’s important to have mechanisms to reduce these rates in Palestine by obliging those who wants to marry to finish educational course to understand the reality of marriage and ensure its survival and sustainability.
He reviewed the reasons behind Palestine high divorce rate in general and in Jenin particularly. Stressing, the most important causes are the couple’s impulsive decision-making, problems caused by social media, some of the outdated customs and traditions, bad economic condition, and marriage’s high costs.
In his speech, Personal Status lecturer at Al-Qasimi Academy in Baka Al-Gharbiya city in the 1948 occupied Palestinian land Dr. Ahmed Qa'dan reviewed mechanisms of appointing judges and the laws in force in the Shariah courts. He spoke in details about these courts components, their numbers in the 1948 occupied Palestine geographical area and the challenges. Praising the Arab American University role in connecting labor institutions in the Palestinian Authority territories and the occupied Palestine, which would make the student fully aware of all the practical life details. He hoped that this lecture will only be the beginning of a permanent dialogue to exchange experiences in this field.
As for the Execution Officer in the Nablus Shariah Court Mr. Nasser Diaa, he spoke about enforcement departments in the Islamic courts and their work mechanisms. Pointing that making the Shariah courts independent from regular courts are easier for the citizens to follow-up their cases. He addressed the challenges and how to overcome them with decisions and laws that regulate the Department work at Sharia Court and explained the importance of these lectures, which will keep law schools students in Palestinian universities constantly updated regarding everything new in the Islamic courts work.
At the end, many questions were raised by the students. There were many serious discussions and constructive criticism. The students expressed their happiness to have such seminars which increase their understanding of the theoretical curricula and help them prepare themselves to deal with reality in the future.
