The Family Structure in Islam Hammiidah Abd al AfiPREFACE Since this study largely relies on the classical, original sources, it makes constant reference to Arabic works not available in English. To translate the titles of these sources would be of little use to most readers. Similarly, adherence to any standard system of citation would be equally unhelp- ful, because of the complicated, often ambiguous forms of titles, publishers, places of publication, and other biblio- graphical data. I have therefore adopted a method of footnoting and transliteration that should be both adequate for the use of scholars familiar with Arabic and intelligible to the non- specialist. A separate section at the end of the text contains expanded comments and specific citations of the sources which are fully listed in the concluding Bibliography. When two or more works by the same author or editor are included, each is given a number (1, 2, 3, etc.). References in the notes will include only the author’s name, the number of the work, the volume (if multiple), and page numbers. It is hoped that this abbreviated form will facilitate identification of rel- evant documentation. The transliteration has presented another type of difficulty. Islamic concepts, Arabic names, and book titles are given different English spellings by different authors. This is con- fusing enough, but the difficulty is aggravated when there are direct quotations from these sources. Nothing can be done about what is already in print; when reproduced here, such passages will appear as they are printed in the original. In all other cases, however, I have adopted a standardized system of transliteration. For the Arabic letters and sounds which have no exact equivalents in the English alphabet, the ap- Pproximations outlined below will be used as closely as possible. 1, The macron will indicate long vowels: a = long a, as in sand and hall; T= long i, as ee in feel; a = long u, as 00 in tooth. ia THE FAMILY STRUCTURE IN ISLAM 2. The dot is used under certain “emphatic” letters pro- nounced with the tongue raised toward the palate: d = roughly as d in mud; $= ass in sun; 1= ast in lot; Zz =a strong emphatic sound with no English equivalent; Ah =a guttural A slightly stronger than h. hamza = a glottal stop, as in the cockney Ji’! bo'ls; ‘ain = a guttural sound, with no English equivalent; dh s th in this; gh = a strong guttural g; Kh =as ch in Scottish loch; q =a guttural k, pronounced far back in the throat; sh = as in ship; th = as th in think. For a fuller description of the transliteration system, see, for example, Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History, p. 8. Also consult “Rules for Transliteration from Arabic to English”, adopted by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.