Holy law and civil law in Arab countries: the case of illegal sexual intercourse

Abstract

The crime of unlawful sexual intercourse, because it is deemed a crime in the Qur’an, has existed throughout the history of criminal law in Arab societies. However, the comprehensive reformation that took place in criminal law in Arab countries during the period of European colonization has led to a very different situation. On the one hand, a some Arab countries have replaced traditional law with European legal models; on the other, a number of Arab countries opted, at a given moment in their history, to replace the European-type legislation for another that, while it is positive and codified, is based on the jurisprudence of the classical schools of law. To some extent, this divergence reflects the dialectic that is ongoing between tradition, identity and modernity in criminal law in Arab countries.