RAMALLAH, West Bank — Mohammed Talib and his fiancee Zanin Samara, from Beit Ur al-Fauqa in Ramallah, and their families did not seem surprised at the sight of a woman preparing to marry them in the Ramallah Sharia court on Sept. 30.
Tahrir Hamad, from Silwad, just northeast of Ramallah, is the first female Sharia marriage judge in Palestine. On July 23 the Supreme Judicial Council licensed her to conduct marriages. Some social and religious groups welcomed the news, while others opposed it.