Wafya Hamouda - Women's Professions in the 19th-Century Sharia Courts: A True Story

This lecture will be hosted on Thursday, 15 May 2025 at 6:00 pm.

This talk examines the professions women pursued by examining 19th-century Egyptian Sharia court records. While it is a well-known fact that women, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, have participated in professions, research has seldom focused on women in what is thought to be male dominated-professions.

Courts records show that women carried out their responsibilities in full and directly interacted with judges, lawyers, witnesses, suspects, and criminals in sharia courts. This was due to various legal regulations that could allow, permit, or even completely develop their roles, functions, power, and the identity of women in society, which were considered consistent with the times or compatible with state policy.

The relationship between the life experiences of women by profession and the changes that they ought to undertake as a result of their employment is important within a social justice framework. This is not simply because of the moral duty that justice carries, but also because of the economic and social benefits that would result from ending gender disparities and encouraging economic growth.

About the speaker

Dr Wafya Hamouda obtained her PhD from Newcastle University and is currently an associate professor at Tanta University. She is an expert in computational/corpus linguistics with a good track record of publications in first-class journals. In addition, she co-translated a book on Islamic international relations in 2022. She presented at numerous universities and conferences, such as Oxford University, BRAIS, DAVO and MESA.

Attention!

The lecture starts at 6 pm. The number of seats is limited and we work on a first-come, first-served basis. We open our doors at 5:30 and close them at 6:15 or earlier in case the lecture room reaches its full capacity. This talk will not be recorded nor livestreamed.