Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) made history Tuesday morning, appointing a woman as Qadi— judge of the Shari’a court—for the first time.
The term Qadi was in use in the time of Muhammad, and remained the term used for judges throughout Islamic history and the period of the caliphates. While the Muftis elucidated the principles of jurisprudence and the laws, the Qadi meted justice based on these laws. Thus, the Qadi must master the jurisprudence and the law, taking into consideration the precedents already established by earlier Qadis.
Shaked, who heads the Committee to Appoint Qadis, on Tuesday elected four new religious Islamic judges, one of whom, Hana Khatib, an attorney specializing in Marriage Law and Shari’a Law, is a woman.
Khatib, a resident of Tamra in lower Galilee, is married and the mother of four.
The committee members, bsides Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, are Minister of Religions David Azoulay, President of the Sharia Court Abd Al Hakim Samara, Director of Shari’a Courts Iyad Zahalka, MK Esawi Frej (Meretz), MK Yoav Ben Tzur (Shas), and representatives of the Israeli Bar Association Attorneys Osama Saadi and Rasmi Zahalka.
The role of Qadi has traditionally been exclusively male, but many women have been appointed in recent : in 2009, two women were appointed as Qadis by the Palestinian Authority; Malaysia appointed two women as Qadis in 2010, but with some limits on their judicial authority; and Indonesia ahs appointed close to 100 female Qadis.
Many Arab Muslim scholars disagree with women’s qualification to be Qadis.
Declaring that all four choices for Qadis were excellent, Minister Shaked hailed the committee’s choosing of the first woman judge in the religious Islamic court in Israel. “It’s great news for Arab women and for the Arab society as a whole. I am excited about this appointment and hope that it’s only the first swallow that will usher in the spring of many more women Qadis.”