By Professor Gabriel Sawma   GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY Kuwait is located on the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, known as Arabia, and on the northwestern head of the Persian Gulf. The country is rich, and is estimated to have the fifth largest petroleum reserves in the world. The country became independent on June […]

By Prof. Gabriel Sawma   Married Muslim Iraqi men, with U.S. citizenship, travel to Iraq, obtain a divorce decree from a court of Personal Status and come back to the United States seeking recognition of their Islamic divorce in a state court. This article deals with the legal ramifications of such a divorce decree.   […]

By Professor Gabriel Sawma   When a divorced male immigrant from Yemen remarries in the United States, immigration authorities may conduct more than the usual scrutiny to see that the divorce in Yemen has been done legally in that country. Divorce in Yemen and remarriage in the United States is often looked upon as potentially […]

By Professor Gabriel Sawma   1-Introduction The political history of Palestine, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, has produced a particular set of laws and jurisdictions since the beginning of the twentieth century. Until World War I, laws in Palestine were passed and courts established by the Ottoman Empire authorities, then came […]

  By Prof. Gabriel Sawma   Chronology The family laws for the Muslim community in Egypt are not codified in one law; they are scattered among different laws.  Islamic law, however, remained the most important element to family law. The law of Qadri Basha from the 19th century, which was based on the Hanafi School […]

Egyptian Divorce and U.S. Immigration  By Prof. Gabriel Sawma In Egypt, a Muslim  husband can end his marriage unilaterally by a simple willful declaration made before the civil state office (ma’dhun) without the need to justify his decision, nor prove the existence of a valid reason. Article 3 of Decree-Law No. 25/1929 states that triple […]

Saudi Divorce in USA By Prof. Gabriel Sawma Introduction The modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. It earns its position as the location of the holiest shrines in Islam, Mecca and Medina. This status is significant for the preservation of Islamic heritage. Muslims from all over the […]

Saudi Divorce and U.S. Immigration By Prof. Gabriel Sawma   Introduction Saudi Arabia is a Kingdom established in 1932 by King Abdul-Aziz. It is the only country among Muslim nations whose constitution is the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and whose source of legislation is Islamic Shari’a which constitutes the Qur’an, the Sunnah, Ijma’ and Qiyass. […]

SAUDI CHILD CUSTODY CASES IN USA By Prof. Gabriel Sawma   This article is written to address the issue of recognizing, by U.S. courts, divorce decrees obtained from Saudi Arabia involving custody of children. In most cases, a client needs a lawyer immediately; he or she returns to the first lawyer they can find, and […]

PAKISTANI DIVORCE AND U.S. IMMIGRATION By Professor Gabriel Sawma   Citizens from Pakistan divorce their spouses and come to the United States seeking U.S. citizenship. They present their divorce decrees to the Immigration offices. But can these decrees be recognized by the immigration authorities? In a recent case, I was asked to testify as Expert […]