Islamic and Civil Courts: A Divided Legal System in Opposition-Held North Syria

Rasha Tabshi

Editor’s Note: All names in this article have been changed or are pseudonyms to protect the individuals’ identities.

Abu Steif, a tobacco merchant, had a disagreement with his partners over the profits from 25 boxes of cigarettes. He had no choice but to appeal to the Islamic Sharia court at Bab Al-Hawa, a border-crossing with Turkey located in the province of Idlib.

The small courtroom is located in a former Syrian Internal Security Forces building. There, Abu Steif traded accusations with the defendants: Mohammed, Jaafar and Khalid. The four had worked together to smuggle boxes of cigarettes from Turkey, but Abu Steif claimed his former partners did not hand over money they owed him after selling their shares.

Abu Steif pleaded his case before the judge and final arbiter, a 28-year-old man who identified himself as Abu Abdullah. He was accompanied by a man in his 50’s who recorded everything that took place.

Abu Abdullah did not come by his position as judge based on his study of law or professional experience as a lawyer, but rather because of his service in the ranks of an armed opposition unit, and his knowledge of Sharia, or Islamic law.

“My young age and my previous job in construction do not prevent me from carrying out my current job in the judiciary,” he said. “The important thing in this job is knowing the law of God and having the wisdom and ability to adjudicate fairly between the oppressor and the oppressed.”

Abu Abdullah said his court’s jurisdiction covers the administration of the Bab al-Hawa area.

This court is one of the Sharia bodies that replaced the regime’s courts in the province of Idlib after it came under the control of the armed opposition.

Abu Abdullah said he aims to spread Sharia Law, although the court compromises on some legal provisions, especially where the offense is a result of the difficult economic conditions experienced by the local people.

“We have had to refrain from issuing harsh punishments for secondary crimes like theft, because people in their weakness were being pushed to steal in order to feed their children and have enough to get through the day,” he explained.

The court also considers adultery to be a secondary offense. Murder, by contrast, is not treated leniently.

“The killer is killed under any circumstances,” Abu Abdullah said.

Many residents of the Bab Al-Hawa area who spoke to The Damascus Bureau praised the new Sharia-based legal system, saying it was necessary for reform of the country.

“The law of God came to us to put a stop to the corruption that we have known in the past. It is not debatable, and it is what we want. Everyone must take responsibility for his own actions,” said Um Walid, a 55-year-old housewife.

Other opposition supporters, however, are in favour of a civil justice system in post-conflict Syria. This position is especially popular among minorities who do not accept the idea of a justice system governed by Islamic law.

Hermine, a Kurdish human rights activist, works with several civil society associations in the city of Raqqa. She believes that the application of Sharia would be detrimental to religious and ethnic minorities as well as moderate Muslims. Current Syrian law does not differentiate between the rights of one religious or ethnic group and another. Hermine believes this aspect of the country’s law should be preserved in the post-Assad era.

“The goal of the revolution is freedom, the guaranteeing of minority rights and ridding [society and the state] of discrimination,” she said. “True Islam promotes justice for all people, and it is illogical in this century to rely on a radical Islam that calls for cutting peoples’ hands off and stoning them.”

Abu Abdullah rejects this logic, emphasizing that the Islamists in Syria are not exclusionary and have tried to engage with minorities to assure them that Islamic law protects their rights.

“We have no problem with those calling for moderate Islam and a civil state. We are ready to enter into dialogue with them if they can prove their strength on the ground,” Abu Abdullah said.

He insisted that the civil courts of the opposition were not supported by the people, describing a “failed experiment” to coordinate with one of these courts.

Despite the obvious dominance of Islamists in the northern regions of Syria controlled by the opposition, many towns and villages, such as Harim in the province of Idlib, have refused to use the Islamic courts to manage their judicial affairs. People in these towns have established civil courts whose jurisprudence is based on existing Syrian civil law; these courts also employ defected judges and public prosecutors working within the Free Syrian Judicial Council. It is interesting to note that these courts include Muslim clerics specialized in issues of personal status, while the courts that fall under regime control do not include any clerics.

Civil courts run by the opposition have cropped up in several towns around the countryside of Idlib Province, including Darkoush, Salqeen, Ermnaz, as well as towns in Aleppo Province such as Aazaz and Atarib.

“Our reference is current Syrian law until it is replaced or developed in a manner commensurate with modern Syria,” explained Muhieddine, a lawyer who used to work at a Syrian government provincial court and a member of the Free Syrian Judicial Council, who declined to give his full name. “The majority of Syrian people want the rule of law to make them feel safe and fairly treated.”

“There is no place for a judicial authority that lacks power on the ground, and this is what distinguishes the Sharia courts from the civil ones,” he said. “This is why we need a police force that supports the work of the [civil] courts and ensures the military does not interfere with our work.

Civil and religious courts continue to coexist in areas held by the opposition, which are still not ruled by a unified political authority. Abu Steif, the tobacco merchant, did not seem preoccupied with the nature of the court that looked into his complaint. Luckily for him, his problem was solved and the court ruled in his favour. His former partners were forced to pay 15 thousand Syrian pounds (around $150) for the tobacco.