The hybrid and asymmetrical pluralism of Shari’a and tribal justice in Syria: how history informs the present

This article examines the evolving relationship between Shari’a and Bedouin tribal justice (al-ʿurf al-qabali) in Idlib, Syria, under the quasi-state governance of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). It argues that their contemporary interaction is neither a wartime anomaly nor a simple Islamization of custom, but a historically situated rearticulation of a long-standing relationship between indigenous normative orders shaped by shifting configurations of political and social authority. Drawing on hybrid ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2018 and 2024, including in-person research and remote interviews, the article analyzes three case studies that reveal a hybrid yet asymmetrical legal order until the final phase of opposition governance, prior to the political transition of late 2024. While Shari’a courts enjoy institutional and symbolic dominance under HTS, tribal justice remains socially embedded and pragmatically effective, operating within but not fully subordinated to the Shari’a framework. This asymmetry is relational and processual, continually negotiated in practice. The article advances a relational account of asymmetrical legal pluralism in conflict-affected settings.