Rather than referring to laws written and developed by the state, judges in Saudi Arabia largely rely on Islamic jurisprudence and the interpretation of sacred texts. In this video, DOMINIK KRELL explores how legal reform can occur in these circumstances. * Focusing on a form of divorce called khulʿ which is initiated by the wife and combining textual study with fieldwork interviews, he finds that Saudi jurists were able to reinterpret Islamic divorce law without state interference and thereby increased women’s possibilities to end unhappy marriages. * This LT Publication is divided into the following chapters: 0:00 Question 1:37 Method 4:25 Findings 6:31 Relevance 8:30 Outlook