public reputation, a shaykh. He cannot refuse her
appeal, and makes her whereabouts known to the
husband and her family so that a settlement can be
reached. She puts her case (lack of economic sup-
port, overwork, bad interaction with his female
relations, his wish to move far from her family,
sexual problems, brutality, coercion to agree to the
marriage from her father) to the shaykhly women
who pass it, along with their comments and advice,
onto the shaykh, in her hearing. He mediates
between her, the husband, and her father and
brothers in terms of honorable behavior; if the hus-
band agrees to a divorce, mediation continues and
turns to questions of returning part of the bride
price and the future of children, if any. Among
shaykhly families, where marriages often have
complicated political and economic factors, it is
more difficult for a woman to end a marriage.
Customary law holds that anyone fleeing from
vengeance has the right to seek protection and that
it must be granted. It is the duty of the protector to
inform the victim’s family’s representative of the
killer’s whereabouts, and initiate the processes
toward restitution and compensation. Known
killings by women are of their husbands, by acci-
dent in a rage, or by intent when consistently re-
fused a divorce by him and their male relatives, and
circumstances prevented flight (Lancaster 1981).
Many communities and groups have few honor
killings; some, for example parts of mountain Jor-
dan and Palestine, have more. Some groups and
individuals regard women as jurally equal and
autonomous individuals but men act for them in
public arenas; others view women as the jural re-
sponsibility of fathers and brothers. Honor killings
arise when a woman is thought to have behaved
dishonorably by her male relations. Fleeing to take
protection was a customary procedure; the shay-
khas often gave protection themselves, faced down
furious brothers in search of their sister, and medi-
ated a solution through husbands or brothers with
the girl’s family. A killing within the family can
have no vengeance in ≠urf. Pregnancy before mar-
riage is known; in some groups the girl is killed, in
others, the family make the man responsible marry
her. It is said illegitimate children are known in
some groups in southern Oman. Married women
quietly entertaining lovers when the husband is
absent is considered by most to concern only hus-
band and wife.
≠Urfdispute settlement starts with those closest
to the disputants offering advice, calls on prece-
dent, and appeals for reconciliation and compro-
mise. Respected women are consulted and mediate
within and between families. Processes are infor-
mashriq beduins 423mal until a settlement is near when some formality
is seen. The disputants, with the mediator/s, agree
to a settlement with witnesses who swear oaths to
the agreement, especially if property is involved.
Witnesses are summoned and testimony heard, ver-
ified by ordeals or sworn oaths; a woman’s testi-
mony is worth half that of a man. At this level, the
mediator is rarely a woman unless the dispute is
between women; even then, many prefer a male
mediator, with the women represented by close
male relations. Neither side need accept a media-
tion, and disputes can drag on for years.
Arbitration is binding on the disputants; a few
shaykhs mediate but refuse to arbitrate, pushing
the responsibility for settlement back on the dis-
putants and their families. A mediated settlement
or an arbitration are formal as the shaykh or
shaykha “sits,” both parties to the dispute are pres-
ent with witnesses, and the language used is formal.
Customary law functioned through a popular
understanding of its rules and procedures and its
experts with their specialized knowledge of partic-
ular corpuses of law and wide experience. Women
had an integral role. Though replaced by national
law, ≠urf continues; customary law and state law
elide or are in conflict (Lancaster and Lancaster
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