Religion, citizenship and family laws from Ottoman and Egyptian reforms to Italian colonial rule in Eritrea and Libya (1880s-1940s)

This paper explores the interconnected history of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, focusing on regions such as Libya and Eritrea. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was a pivotal moment in the evolution of legal and political identity, especially concerning the conceptualization of subjection to specific personal status laws and citizenship statutes in Libya and Eritrea. In their colonies, Italian jurists presented themselves as reformers who sought to maintain continuity with the former Ottoman and Egyptian administrations regarding personal status law and family affairs. They intervened in property rights, the legal capacity of women, and matters of marriage, divorce, and citizenship status. The collaboration between colonial and Muslim jurists restricted the social and juridical mobility of indigenous women. This was accomplished by limiting their ability to maneuver and move between different forums (religious and civil) and by requiring them to be identified and subject to a single interpretation of customary and religious laws.