Giving over-supervision

Giving over-supervision of a woman’s guardianship to an older or more prestigious member of the family appears to have been a common practice; but it was more common for judges to assign mothers or older sisters full guardianship and total control of minor children’s “person and money” (“nafs wa mal”). This happened both when the estate was not a rich one (Qisma `Arabiyya, 1061 [1651], 41:490-652) and when the estate was substantial and children’s relatives included important personalities. In such a case dating from the mid-17th century, the widow was made guardian over the estate by the chief qadi with authority over the property of her minor child, her adult daughter (referred to as al-mar’a or woman), her unborn child and overseer for the elderly parents of her deceased husband. Present in court as witnesses to this decision were numerous major merchants associated with her husband and members of the family.