New female judge transforms Islamic court

Which is why Faqeeh wanted nothing more than to be a qadiya. She pressed the chief sharia judge.

"In Islam, it says a sharia judge has to be a Muslim, rational adult" – not necessarily a man, she explains between cases. "Whenever I would discuss this with the chief judge, he would say, 'This is tradition.' "

"I didn't buy it," says Faqeeh. "I'm a legal person, and, to me, legal issues are stronger than tradition."

Top in her class at Jerusalem's Al-Quds University, Faqeeh started her own practice and quickly drew the attention of judges. They offered the outspoken advocate a position at the prosecutor's office. She turned it down. The chief sharia judge, Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, politely suggested she work for the civil courts. She refused. "To me, the challenge was to be a sharia judge," she says. "I wanted to ... break the deadlock."

Mr. Tamimi now says he's "proud" of her appointment. But not everyone approves. Sheikh Hamed Bitawi, an elected Hamas representative who serves as head of the Association of Islamic Scholars and Scientists, says there are two schools of thought on the issue: that every position but that of a caliph is open to women, and that women are too emotional to make legal decisions – as judges or as witnesses.

"I am of the second view because I consider women to be gentle human beings who should not be subjected to difficult situations or difficult decisions," Mr. Bitawi says. "They cry easily, and hence their judgment is tainted with emotions. Moreover, lawyers are difficult to deal with and people who come to courts are angry and violent."

In October, Tamimi advertised a qualifying test for sharia judge candidates. Of 45 Palestinians who took the test, nine passed – two of them women. Faqeeh was one of the highest scorers.

On the bench only since March, she still gets shocked or amused reactions from Palestinians, who are used to seeing a man in her seat. Women are at first pleasantly surprised, but some leave disappointed that she didn't bend the rules for them.

But in fact, she won't bend the rules for anyone. Some defendants on a recent day didn't take the need for two male witnesses seriously, trying to pull strangers from the hallway.

"If you bring two witnesses who don't even know the name of your daughters, how can I rule on something like that?" Faqeeh bellows at one man, who works at the headquarters of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Often, she says, government employees expect special treatment, which she refuses to give – just as she refused to accept discrimination from the government, a stand Tamimi echoes.

"The PA institutions do not discriminate in job opportunities, and the stereotype that Islamic institutions are against the rise of women professionally is wrong," says the chief justice. "The presence of a woman sharia judge will enrich the institution of the courts, especially when it involves a woman whose academic as well as personal qualities make her perfect for the job.... I have full faith in her capabilities."

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