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The Division of Matrimonial Wealth in Malay Polygyny & the Codification of Culture in Malaysian Islamic Family Law

Project description

Division of matrimonial assets in Malaysian Islam

Classical Islamic law does not recognise matrimonial assets. However, in the Malay Archipelago, there is a traditional adat practice where spouses enjoy equal access to an ownership of resources acquired during the marriage. The MSCA-funded MALAYMATRIMONEY project investigates the division of matrimonial assets in Malaysian Islamic family law (IFL) from a socio-legal and gendered perspective. The project examines how this provision was incorporated into the IFL and applied in practice in the Malaysian Shari’ah judiciary to secure the economic well-being of women in unstable marriages. The project will conduct ethnographic and archival research at a Shari’ah court in Kuala Lumpur and evaluate whether the Malaysian Shari’ah system protects the economic rights of Malay women.

Objective

This project is an anthropological investigation into the division of matrimonial assets in the Malaysian Islamic family law (IFL) from a socio-legal and gendered perspective. The concept of matrimonial assets is not officially recognized in classical Islamic law; rather, it is an adat (customary) tradition long practiced in the Malay Archipelago, where the dominant bilateral system of gender relations accords both spouses mutual access to, and ownership of, the resources jointly acquired during the marriage. This project will first examine the juridical processes and justifications enabling the incorporation of this provision into the IFL, thereby codifying as “Islamic” what actually originated from Malay adat. Second, it will analyze how this provision was translated into practice in the Malaysian Shari’ah judiciary, to understand how it fulfills adat’s original intention to preserve and enhance women’s economic security in precarious marriages such as polygyny. To pursue these lines of inquiry, I will conduct ethnographic and archival fieldwork in a Shari'ah court situated in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan region. The project will include interviews of Malay couples in the process of dividing their matrimonial assets, and archival research into past polygyny applications. The ultimate aim of this research project is to assess whether the Malaysian Shari’ah system is equipped to protect the economic rights of Malay women who earn, own, and add to the acquisition of assets and circulation of resources as an equally important key economic contributor in the marriage.

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 226 751,04
Address
MUSEPLASSEN 1
5020 Bergen
Norway

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Region
Norge Vestlandet Vestland
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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