שיחה:Ahmad Natour

Prof. Qadi Ahmad Natour is a jurist, law professor and world-renowned expert in law in general and in Muslim law in particular. He served as a Qadi (Judge) and President of the Supreme Sharia Court of Appeals for Palestinians in Israel between 1994 and 2014.

He is considered as the founder of the modern Sharia courts in Israel, bringing about a broad and in-depth reform of the Muslim courts and opening the door to the rights of women and children.

He is a lecturer in various fields of law, conflict resolution, Islam and politics. He is an academic researcher and author of academic and children's books. Prof. Natour is also the president of the National Arab Dispute Resolution Center.

He is married and a father of six children.

His early life

Natour was born in Qalansawa in the center of the country. After graduating from high school, he moved to Jerusalem to study at the Hebrew University. He is the middle son of a family with many children. His father Abu Mithkal Natour is a key figure in Palestinian society and known as one of the luminaries. His mother Fahima is a daughter of a respectable family from the Palestinian town of Anabta.

Education

Ahmad received his bachelor's degree in Islamic studies, Arabic language and literature at the Hebrew University. He was awarded his master's degree in mass communication and from the Hebrew University.  His LL.B and LL.M in Law he received from Tel-Aviv university. His doctorate studies in law were pursued at the American University of Washington DC. Natour’s Ph.D. mentors were renowned and well-known intellectuals: Prof. Clovis Maksoud from Lebanon – a thinker, international law expert, former editor of Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram and Arab League ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, and Prof. Abdel Aziz Said from Syria. Ahmad also studied mediation at the National Judicial College in Nevada - USA.

Career

Natour was elected to the position of Qadi in 1983 and served as Qadi of Jaffa and the southern district. It was a difficult time in terms of attempts by Jewish entrants to take over the Waqf assets - the Muslim endowment. Natour, who saw himself responsible for protecting the holy places, announced to the public that the sharia ‘a tribunal, which had used by the authorities as a tool to rob the properties, would henceforth become a fortress to protect them. Once there was an attempt to sell a Muslim cemetery, in the Palestinian village of Al-Jammsin in north Tel Aviv, he convened the dignitaries of the city on his own initiative and, in their presence, issued unprecedent decision to repeal the previous Qadi’s rulings that allowed the sale of the cemeteries, which was about to take place in Jammasin Cemetery.

Qadi Ahmad dismissed the waqf custodian - متولي Ali Rashidi and stated that he does not recognize the board of trustees of the Waqf appointed by the government, mainly because for their involvement in such suspicious deals. Ahmad gained support from the public and eventually, after a series of protests against the state board of trustees in charge, an elected alternative body was established in Jaffa and named Jaffa Elected Muslim Council. This was the first fatwa - authoritative legal opinion given by a legal scholar, after the establishment of the state, that eliminates any possibility of using inactive cemeteries for secular purposes. Following this, Qadi Natour issued a series of religious rulings imposing an eternal and absolute prohibition on any use of cemetery lands and mosques that are inactive and on turning them to unreligious sites. In doing so, he succeeded in preventing  many Muslim sites from doom, changing the route of Highway 6 in Umm al-Tut and cancelling the construction of water lines from the spring in Nabi Yemin by Kfar Saba authority as well as similar cases in other places. The Tel Aviv District Court recognized the claim of the Qadi Natour and made the final decision overturning the attempt to sell the Jammasin Cemetery.

As soon as he was elected as a president of the Supreme Court of Appeals, he issued a judicial decree (مرسوم قضائي) by which he imposed a total ban on making religious rulings that allow the use of holy places for purposes other than prayer and burial.

This decree came along with the rulings he issued, in order to serve the Islamic movements and other Arab bodies as a legal ground in lawsuits for the protection of Islamic holy places in the country.

Scholars believe that the order issued by Qadi Natour to the courts regarding the prohibition of changing the designation of Waqf properties, dedicated as mosques and cemeteries, has caused a major influence on the matter. It is said that since he issued the judicial proclamation, there has been no case of acquaintance of cemeteries or mosques in the country.

Qadi Natour has also brought about a real change in the Sharia courts in both substantive and procedural law. He adapted the Sharia legal system to the modern era in terms of the qualifications of the employees, the professionalism of Qadis, the structures, computing and the way of working. He also managed to make the status of Qadis comparable to the parallel judges in the other judicial systems. Under his initiative, laws such as the Qadis’ Act were amended to require that candidates for the Qadi position must complete their studies in the relevant field and that they must undergo a comprehensive professional examination as a qualification for candidacy. As to substantive law, he set precedents that have become laws such as the matter of the best interests of the child as a principle of any case related to child custody, non-separation of children between the two parents, the use of the welfare officer as a tool to ensure the best interests for the child . In addition, he removed the barriers between the four Sunni schools.

President Natour also broadened the room of standing in court over the child custody stating that it relates to not only the right of human beings but also the right of God فيها حق الله تعالى )) - that is, the right of the rule. This means that any Muslim is granted the right to sue based on the principle of “the sake of God” (حِسْبةً). One of its important innovations is the conversion of the statements by classical jurists from binding statements into rebuttable presumptions. For instance, in the case of the mother of a minor marrying a foreign man, she would automatically lose her right to raise the child, according to the Hanafi school. In contrast to many Arab countries laws , Natour stated that this is a presumption that can be contradicted, and therefore the mother can challenge and try to dispel the presumption.

Another example is related to the determination of the schools regarding the age of the child: the Hanafi school, for instance, states that a boy of 7 and a girl up to 9, will stay with his mother because the child still needs her help; after that age, they will be transferred to their father. Natour turned this into a rebuttable presumption.

He has also made the non-custodial parent's right to contact longer and more frequent, which has the potential to deepen human experience and socialization.

Equally dramatic was his decision that the procedure that prevailed for decades in which child support was obligatory from the date of the court judgement should be revoked, as it has seriously damaged women's and children's rights, and instead the father should be charged with them from the date of filing the claim.

In order for his rulings to become legal principles, he ruled that the decisions of the appellate court must be considered a binding precedent. He explained this by saying that the law must be clear to the public and that the rulings in the various courts must be stable and coherent.

Another change that comes after decades was turning the triple divorce of the same couple (طلاق الثلاث في مجلس واحد) , into one revocable divorce in order to maintain the integrity of the family and the status of the woman. It should be noted that this position is contrary to that of the Hanafi school.

In his campaign to improve a woman's rights, Natour stated that contrary to the legal practice that existed in the courts in Palestine and still exists in Islamic countries, by which plaintiff (mostly the wife is the plaintiff) for dissolution of a failed marriage without the consent of the husband should bear the burden of proof, this should be settled by the court satisfaction. It should be noted that this change has significantly increased the options for the courts to respond to women's requests to be released from a failed marriage even if this was against the husband’s will.

Judicial proclamations:

Natour saw his role as head of the Qadis in a non-Muslim state as if he had the sultan's duties. Therefore, he expanded his public activities far beyond what was expected of him as a judge: he accused the state's treatment of Palestinian prisoners and demanded their release; he visited the unrecognized villages in the Negev, and headed the Arab Council for Special Education ; he also extended the days of mourning for Muslim dead relatives to 7 days instead of 3 days , and set the Muslim holidays by amending Regulation 32.122 Civil Service Regulations. And above all, he placed himself at the forefront of protecting the Palestinian holy places . He called for national unity of the different Palestinian communities in Israel. Prof. Natour was also active in cooperating with other Arab communities for the national struggle. As a tool for the development of Muslim law in the Sharia courts, Qadi Natour first invented the method of the judicial proclamation - المرسوم القضائي. He has repeatedly stated that the intention of the judicial proclamations – decrees, is to bring about vital reform in the law, but it must come solely from the Sharia itself, based on the principles of legal renewal -الاجتهاد, and without the involvement of the non-Muslim parliament.

He fiercely opposed any intervention by the Knesset or the Israeli courts in Sharia law.

The first proclamation he issued stated that the sanctity of Islamic holy places such as cemeteries Mosques and shrines (Maqam) should not be removed even if they are old, ruined or unused. He also took the authority of the regional courts to appoint a trustee for the Waqf - متولّي الوقف and transferred it to the Court of Appeals. The importance of this proclamation is that it imposes a total ban on trade of holy places, repeals the religious rulings of previous Qadis and prevents the removal of sanctity and the sale of Waqf assets in the future. The proclamation was accepted and signed by all the Qadis in the country. This judicial proclamation served as a reference by Arab community to protect the holy places in the courts.

The second proclamation abolishes the old method that was used by the court when it came to estimating the amount of alimony for women and children. Natour found that the use of “informants” – مخبرون, as has been practiced for decades, actually originated from the Hanafi school and it allowed the judge to enlist the help of witnesses for ” fact-finding” - شهود استكشاف when a woman claiming for alimony says her husband is wealthy but has no evidence of it. Accidentally, this technique has spread to all alimony claims of women and children even when they are demanding the minimal amount needed for their living -نفقة الكفاية  In his decree Natour stated that the judge is not supposed to seek help from outside the court and the plaintiff should be asked to bring evidence of her husband's income , the person responsible for determining the amount of alimony- maintenance, is the judge himself and not anyone else. This reform has led to increase in the amount of alimony for women and children in the courts. A survey conducted by a women's organization found that the amount of alimony and child support decided in the Sharia courts after the application of this proclamation is the highest among all the courts and tribunals in the country.

Natour's third decree dealt with giving a right, according to the principle of subrogation, to a grandson whose father died before his grandfather, and it enabled the grandson to subrogate his deceased father and win the father's share of the grandfather's estate (الوصية الواجبة). This reform was done in Egypt, Syria and Jordan, but the law in these countries granted the right of representation only to the grandson (the son of the son). It needs, however, to be applied to everyone based on the principle of equality and justice- العدل والانصاف as expressed by Ibn Hazam El-Dahari, that is, both the grandsons (the son of the son and the son of the daughter) and the granddaughters (the daughter of the son and the daughter of the daughter).

Natour's fourth manifesto is considered to be the most daring and courageous as it seeks to replace the Israeli civil justice system with the Sharia arbitration mechanism – (التحكيم). That is, instead of the Arabs turning to the Israeli courts regarding civil disputes, they can turn to the Islamic arbitration mechanism that will provide it with arbitrators under the guidance of the Shari’a Qadi.

Additional decree refers to granting the criminal prisoner's wife the right to request the dissolution of her marriage if her husband is sentenced more than four and a half years’ imprisonment, which does not exist in the Ottoman Family Law, as well as giving the right of compensation to a woman who is harmed by the arbitrary cancellation of the engagement- الخِطبة, even if it is non-pecuniary or intangible damage. Surprisingly, and although most of the decrees were to improving the status of women, one of the women's associations filed a petition with the Israeli High Court against them. The petition was deleted eventually after the management of the Sharia courts clarification that it is a preference for certain opinions on Sharia which do not bind the Qadis.

In the Field of Procedure

In the field of law, too, Qadi Natour has brought about significant reform. One of the important things he did was change the way how the Court of Appeals worked. Since its establishment, the Sharia Court of Appeals has acted in accordance with mandatory regulations, according to which the tribunal will not hear the parties and will not hold hearings. It “shall decide the appeal on perusal of the record of the action and without hearing oral argument” (Article 1(10)), Moslem Religious Courts, Laws of Palestine). Natour, who saw the Court of Appeals as a supreme court, believed that it should be turned into a real court of appeals. He passed a resolution with the members of the Court of Appeals, according to which the parties will be summoned to a hearing of their appeal and a hearing will take place as an appellate court is supposed to hold. He has repeatedly said that the citizen is entitled to have his day in court. It is desirable that the judge is impressed by the parties and that justice should also be seen. He also issued notices to regulate certain areas .

An equally dramatic structural change is Natour's success in transferring the Sharia judiciary from the Ministry of Religious affairs to the Ministry of Justice, which has freed it from habitual neglect, politicization and control by the Jewish religious parties.

During Natour's time, the Sharia courts gained the growing trust of the Muslim public, together with the appreciation from the other courts and the professional communities.

Academia

Natour has been lecturing for decades in the areas of Muslim law, medical ethics, conflict resolution and comparative law. He has taught at the Faculty of Law at the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University, the College of Management, the Hebrew University, the Netanya Academic College, the Interdisciplinary Center, the American University of Washington, D.C., Al-Najah University in Palestine and more.

He also has taught as a visiting professor at British Columbia University in Vancouver, Canada and at the New York School of Law. Prof. Natour has taught many students, lawyers and judges.

Among the prominent courses he teaches;

- Introduction to Muslim Law

- Between religious law and positive state law - a comparative law

- Private International Law

- Dispute resolution

- Selected Legal Issues in Modern Islam

- International Law in Islam

He has many academic publications in the fields of personal status, the Muslim Waqf, medical ethics and more, in the three languages ​​Arabic, English and Hebrew. His research on the Muslim Waqf in Israel is considered unique because it shows for the first time how the state and the authorities used the Qadis to legitimize its takeover of the Waqf's assets.

Children's Books

Natour is a multi- talented man: he writes poetry, for a time he was the editor-in-chief and author of the editorial of the weekly "Kol-Al-Arab" which is published in Nazareth, he is an Author of study materials for the school in the field of Islamic studies, and a fluent speaker in three languages, which is Arabic, English and Hebrew. He is also the author of textbooks and children's books. In children's books one can sense his strong tendency to educate for benevolence and compassion for animals.

His familiar children books:

- The Desperate Fly: a discussion between the little fly and his mother about why everyone hates him and expels him.

- Razeen and the Lamb: a lamb with a thorn stuck in its throat and waiting impatiently for the arrival of his friend Razeen to remove the thorn.

- The Disguised Caterpillar: a child captivated by the spectacular beauty of a butterfly and asking for friendship. The butterfly wants to first make sure that he will continue to keep company with even after he knew the truth about the stages of becoming a butterfly.

- The Secret of the Lost Bird: a bird that loses its chick in Jerusalem and flies east to look for it. She reaches all the capitals of Arab countries and in the end, she finds the chick in Jerusalem.

- Mas and the Ant, an ant that has difficulty crossing the road. The girl Mas comes to help the ant.

- Gazal the diver in Jaffa: a girl who loves to travel with her father in Jaffa and go diving in the port of Jaffa. At the bottom of the sea she discovers a treasure of gold from the period of Fatimids.

- The Hoopoe and the Crow: two neighboring friends. The Hoopoe is angry about his friend not giving him a compliment on his beauty. The Crow tells him: I thought you knew but you also never told me that I looked beautiful. The Hoopoe says: I was afraid to hurt you because you are black. Then there is an honest conversation between them about the difference and the meaning of beauty.

- I'm Not a Coward, about fears in children.

Prof. Natour is publicly and professionally appreciated by the various communities and the general public. He received two honorary doctorates from the Open University and Beer Sheva University in the Negev. More than once, the Arab public of different denominations chose him for public positions such as the chairman of the commission of inquiry into the conflict in Shehab el-Din site in Nazareth. He also served as a member of the Reconciliation Committee of the Palestinians in Israel which led to the unification of the Arab parties within the joint list.