La présente thèse étudie à la fois les réalités de la présence chrétienne en Mésopotamie ainsi que l’image que les chrétiens se sont données d’eux-mêmes. Installé sur les rives du Tigre et de l’Euphrate, le christianisme de l’empire perse s’est diffusé à l’ombre d’un pouvoir non chrétien, comme dans l’empire romain. Toutefois les destinées des deux christianismes, celui d’Occident et celui d’Orient, se sont séparées lorsque l’empire romain est devenu chrétien. Les chrétiens de la Mésopotamie sassanide ont dû alors osciller entre l’hostilité franche du pouvoir et les périodes de tolérance jusqu’à la chute de la dynastie au milieu du VIIe siècle. Le christianisme mésopotamien fut caractérisé par une forme de diversité à la fois linguistique et religieuse, marqué par la porosité avec les autres groupes, contre laquelle les autorités religieuses n’ont cessé de délimiter des frontières claires. Il s’est progressivement étendu à l’ensemble des couches de la société sassanide, jusqu’aux élites dirigeantes, et jusqu’aux campagnes. Alors, une production littéraire et historiographique d’ampleur a contribué à la formation d’un portrait cohérent et linéaire dans la documentation syro-orientale dominante, issue de l’Église de l’Est. Ailleurs, des mémoires divergentes des chrétiens de Perse nous sont parvenues. / This dissertation looks at both the realities of the Christian presence in Mesopotamia and how the Christians constructed their own image. Established on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Christianity during the Persian Empire it developed under a shadowy non-Christian power, as with the case with the Roman Empire. However, the fate of Western and Eastern Christianities diverged when the Roman Empire became Christian. In Sasanian Mesopotamia, the treatment of Christians wavered between direct hostility from Zoroastrian power and periods of tolerance, until the fall of the dynasty in the middle of the 7th century. A form of linguistic and religious diversity characterized Mesopotamian Christianity. The lines between Christians and the other communities were narrow, which caused religious authorities to draw clear boundaries between Christians and non-Christians. Christianity expanded into the whole Sasanian society, including the peasantry and ruling elites. Therefore, after the 5th century, there was a large proliferation of East-Syrian literature and historiography, which had a key role in the development of the dominant Christian image within the Church of Persia. However, other literary traditions passed down different views of the Christians of Sasanian Mesopotamia.

Magister Legum - LLM / As a Muslim south African trained in South African Roman-Dutch law, I have been exposed to experiences/situations which indicate a conflict between the principles of South African Roman-Dutch law and Islamic law of succession. This has prompted me to do some research into the history of Islamic law, the spreading of Islamic law over large parts of the world and the question of the recognition and application of Islamic law in South Africa. The central theme of this study is the Islamic law of succession in so far as it affects women. Chapter One of my dissertation contains a brief historical background which outlines on the one hand, the nomadic society, women and succession in pre-Islamic Arabia and on the other, their improved position upon the advent of Islam {seventh century) . It ends with the historical background of Muslims in South Africa. Chapter Two is devoted to the marriage property background against which both the South African and Islamic law of succession operate. Thereafter, in Chapter Three, the South African law and Islamic law (substantive rules} of succession are compared. These include both intestate and testamentary succession, the latter being limited on the Islamic side. Chapter Four, with the backgrounds sketched in Chapters Two and Three, demonstrates the visible internal conflicts between the Islamic and South African law of marriage and succession as encountered in South African practice. After evaluating statistics and alternative solutions in this regard, and having arrived at certain conclusions, I propose that recommendations about the possible recognition and application of Muslim Personal Law in South Africa which is at present enjoying the attention of the South African Law Commission in Project 59 should see fruition and be implemented as it can only assist the society in closer inspection are riddled with controversies. Chapter Six explores the treatment received by a Muslim widow, daughter and mother in terms of their respective fixed "intestate" shares and its implications for modern twentieth century society. which we live since it is a vital aspect affecting our daily lives {and deaths!). Chapter Five covers the whole aspect of the Muslim testator or testatrix' s limited "freedom" of testation and reforms by certain forerunner countries in this regard which on closer inspection are riddled with controversies. Chapter Six explores the treatment received by a Muslim widow, daughter and mother in terms of their respective fixed "intestate" shares and its implications for modern twentieth century society.