ʿurf

…of Sharīʿah (Islamic law) and ʿurf (tribal custom). In the south the legal system was a mixture of Sharīʿah in matters of personal status (e.g., marriage, divorce, inheritance) and British commercial and common law (modified to suit the needs of the Marxist government) and, in rural areas, a combination of…

… in North Africa it is ʿurf, and in East Africa, dustūr. Muslim communities developed their ʿādahs before accepting Islām and did not abandon them entirely afterward. Thus in Indonesian Minangkabau, where many Muslims still retain old Hindu or pagan traditions, a matriarchate is recognized, contrary to the Sharīʿah; in parts…