This publication is an almost unchanged version of my doctoral thesis at the Philosophical Faculty I at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 2016. I would like to take the opportunity to express my thankfulness toward at least some of the people who have helped to realize this project.
First and foremost, my sincere gratitude belongs to the dissertation advisors Ralf Elger (Halle) and Stefan Reichmuth (Bochum), who have supported me and my work in many ways. Some of the best ideas in this book have come from discussions with them. I am also thankful to the participants of a joint colloquium (Japanese Studies and Arabic and Islamic Studies), who have, over the years, listened to instances of this work in several stages. Their critical comments have no doubt improved it a lot. The same holds true for other colleagues and friends, among them Astrid Meier, Thomas Eich, and Morgan Clarke. I am also deeply indebted to Mirfat at-Talāwī, Azza Soliman, Nasser Amin, and several Egyptian judges and lawyers whose insights have been so important, among other things, in clearing up many misconceptions about Egyptian law and court procedure. Parts of my research was generously supported by the Johann Wilhelm Fück Foundation. And finally, I want to thank Ralf Elger for his great help in the pub- lication of this book.