Prior to the late nineteenth century family law and family courts, as such, did not exist in Egypt or anywhere else in the Ottoman Empire. Matters pertaining to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and custody, along with criminal and civil matters, were adjudicated through the Sharīʿa courts on the basis of Islamic law or, in the case of Christians and Jews, the milliyya (confessional) courts. Administrative cases fell under qānūn , or Ottoman executive law. ʿUrf (customary law) played a critical role in legal practices, influencing local preferences for particular schoo…