Family Life in the Ottoman Empire: A Social History

In Writings About Islam, Women And Modernity In The Middle East, Family And Religion Are Frequently Invoked But Rarely Historicized. Based On A Wide Range Of Local Sources Spanning Two Centuries (1660-1860), Beshara B. Doumani Argues That There Is No Such Thing As The Muslim Or Arab Family Type That Is So Central To Orientalist, Nationalist, And Islamist Narratives. Rather, One Finds Dramatic Regional Differences, Even Within The Same Cultural Zone, In The Ways That Family Was Understood, Organized, And Reproduced. In His Comparative Examination Of The Property Devolution Strategies And Gender Regimes In The Context Of Local Political Economies, Doumani Offers A Groundbreaking Examination Of The Stories And Priorities Of Ordinary People And How They Shaped The Making Of The Modern Middle East-- Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Maryam's Final Word -- 1.1. A Copper Pot With Its Lid -- 1.2. Why Should We Care About Maryam 'anklis? -- 1.3. Property Devolution And Family Life -- 1.4. The Geography Of Modernity -- 1.5. The Political And Spiritual Economies Of Difference -- 1.6. Historicizing The Encounter Between Kin And Court -- 1.7. Methodological Choices -- 1.8. Chapter Overview -- 2. Hamida's Children Come Of Age: The Shari'a Court And Its Archives -- 2.1. The Shari'a Court Registers As Communal Textual Memory -- 2.2. Hamida's Children Go To Court -- 2.3. Lawsuit Narratives -- 2.4. The Centrality Of Waqfs -- 2.5. Conclusion -- 3. Husayn's And `abd Al-wahid's Designs: The Waqf As A Family Charter -- 3.1. Husayn's Design -- 3.2. `abd Al-wahid's Design -- 3.3. Waqf Preferences In The Absence Of A Male Heir -- 3.4. Conclusion -- 4. Good Deeds: The Family Waqf As A Social Act -- 4.1. Who?: Class, Kinship, And Gender -- 4.2. Why?: Disciplinary, Supplemental, And Constitutive Waqfs -- 4.3. Rise Of The Baraka Family: The Social Life Of A Constitutive Waqf -- 4.4. Conclusion -- 5. Who's In? Who's Out?: The Waqf As A Boundary Marker -- 5.1. Four Patterns: No More, No Less -- 5.2. Pattern Two -- 5.3. Pattern One -- 5.4. Patterns Three And Four -- 5.5. Conclusion -- 6. Property And Gender: The Political Economy Of Difference -- 6.1. Legal And Spiritual Economies -- 6.2. The Family Firm In Nablus -- 6.3. Urban Agriculture In Tripoli -- 6.4. The Tree And The Worm -- 6.5. Silk, Power, And Class -- 6.6. Co-cultivation Contracts -- 6.7. `atika's Options -- 6.8. Bustan Vs. Dar -- 6.9. Conclusion -- 7. Fatima's Determination -- 7.1. What If Fatima Lived In Nablus? -- 7.2. Endowing Family, Litigating Kinship -- 7.3. Understanding Fatima's Determination -- 7.4. Challenges. Beshara B. Doumani. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 312-332) And Index. 1. Maryam's final word 2. Hamida's children come of age: the shariʿa court and its archives 3. The different designs of Husayn and ʿAbd al-Wahid: the waqf as a family charter 4. Good deeds: the family waqf as a social act 5. Who's in? Who's out? The waqf as a boundary marker 6. Property and gender: the political economy of difference 7. Fatima's determination Bibliography Index. A social history of everyday family life in the Ottoman Empire, this book offers a groundbreaking examination of the relations between and transformations of family, property, and gender regimes. In addition to offering an analysis of a wide variety of sources, it also challenges prevailing assumptions about modern Middle Eastern societies.