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Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
was governed by different sets of laws during its existence. The '' Qanun'', sultanic law, co-existed with religious law (mainly the
Hanafi school The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
of
Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica
''Fiqh'' is of ...
). Legal administration in the Ottoman Empire was part of a larger scheme of balancing central and local authority (see
Legal pluralism Legal pluralism is the existence of multiple legal systems within one society and/or geographical area. History Church and State The notion of "parallel sovereignty" between premodern States and the Catholic Church was an accepted situation ...
). Ottoman power revolved crucially around the administration of the rights to land, which gave a space for the local authority develop the needs of the local
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
. The jurisdictional complexity of the Ottoman Empire was aimed to permit the integration of culturally and religiously different groups.


Legal system

The Ottoman system had three court systems: one for Muslims, one for non-Muslims, involving appointed Jews and Christians ruling over their respective religious communities, and the "trade court". The codified administrative law was known as '' kanun'' and the ''
ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
'' were permitted to invalidate secular provisions that contradicted the religious laws. In practice, however, the ''ulema'' rarely contradicted the ''kanuns'' of the Sultan. These court categories were not, however, wholly exclusive: for instance, the Islamic courts—which were the Empire's primary courts—could also be used to settle a trade conflict or disputes between litigants of differing religions, and Jews and Christians often went to them to obtain a more forceful ruling on an issue. The Ottoman state tended not to interfere with non-Muslim religious law systems, despite legally having a voice to do so through local governors. The Ottoman Islamic legal system was set up differently from traditional European courts. Presiding over Islamic courts would be a ''
Kadı A kadi (, ) was an official in the Ottoman Empire. In Arabic, the term () typically refers to judges who preside over matters in accordance with sharia Islamic law; under Ottoman rule, however, the kadi also became a crucial part of the imperi ...
'', or judge. However, the Ottoman court system lacked an appellate structure, leading to jurisdictional case strategies where plaintiffs could take their disputes from one court system to another until they achieved a ruling that was in their favor. Throughout the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire adhered to the use of three different codes of criminal law. The first was introduced in 1840, directly following the
Edict of Gülhane The Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerifi ("Supreme Edict of the Rosehouse") or Tanzimât Fermânı ("Imperial Edict of Reorganization") was a proclamation by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1839 that launched the Tanzimât period of reforms and re ...
, an event which started the period of the
Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...
reforms. In 1851, a second code was introduced. In this one, the laws were nearly the same as the ones in the first code of laws, but included the rulings of the previous eleven years. In 1859, the Ottoman Empire promulgated a last code of law inspired by the 1810 Napoleonic criminal code. Each of these variations of code and legislations represented a new phase in Ottoman legal ideology. The Ottoman judicial system institutionalized a number of biases against non-Muslims, such as barring non-Muslims from testifying as witnesses against Muslims. At the same time, non-Muslims "did relatively well in adjudicated interfaith disputes", because anticipation of judicial biases prompted them to settle most conflicts out of court.


Kanun

In the Ottoman Empire, the edicts established by the Sultan were called ''"kanuns”''. The kanuns were implemented alongside the religious law and were meant to supplement them. Within the changing society of a vast and diverse empire, interpreting laws that were unspecified in the
Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
proved to be difficult. To achieve some consistency in governance, the Sultans would issue decrees based on pre-Islamic custom (“ örf”). However, “theoretically, none of the decrees was supposed to contradict Islamic law; instead, they were supposed to preserve it.”Schull, Kent F. “Ottoman Criminal Justice and the Transformation of Islamic Criminal Law and Punishment in the Age of Modernity, 1839–1922.” In ''Prisons in the Late Ottoman Empire: Microcosms of Modernity'', 17–41. Edinburgh University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt9qdrdm.8. These kanuns were primarily focused on laws pertaining to the public, such as ceremonial, fiscal, feudal, and criminal law.Nadolski, Dora Glidewell. “Ottoman and Secular Civil Law.” ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' 8, no. 4 (1977): 517–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/162566. While Sharia law includes some provisions related to the administration or internal structure of State, or public law, it is heavily focused on private law. Sharia law is derived from the four basic sources of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
,
Sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
(precepts of Mohammed),
ijma Ijma (, ) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. Exactly what group s ...
(teachings of Muslim scholars), and
qiyas Qiyas (, , ) is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran in Islamic jurisprudence, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new circumstance and cre ...
(analogical reasoning). Sharia in the Ottoman Empire prevailed in the fields of Law of Persons, Real Rights, Family, Inheritance, Obligations and Commercial Law. The foundation of Sharia law in the Ottoman Empire was based on the
Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...
school of Islamic jurisprudence. Religious and legislative matters were under the authority of the
Shaykh al-Islam Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...
, although he did not have judicial powers. Execution and legislation were carried out through
fatwas A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist (''faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
(religious decrees). The judicial system was managed by Kazaskers (chief military judges) and Kadis (Islamic judges), who were responsible for judicial affairs. The Kazasker was responsible for appointing and promoting Kadis within the Ottoman judicial system. In provinces, districts, and subdistricts, courts were presided over by Kadis, who acted as judges. Ottoman Sultans never interfered with the judgements passed by the Kadis in the field of private law, unless these judgements were unjust. These laws applied only to Muslim citizens; Non-Muslim Ottoman citizens were subject to the rules of their own religion when it came to private law.Bozkurt, Gülnihal. “REVIEW OF THE OTTOMAN LEGAL SYSTEM.” (1992). Considering the individualistic nature of Islamic Law, the Ottoman Sultans deemed it necessary to establish decrees in public law, particularly in ceremony and feudal law, which are absent in Sharia Law. Since these edicts were absent from the Sharia, and the kanuns were created in support of it, the Sultan had full legislative power as long as they did not contradict Islamic principles. The kanun is based on “örf” (traditional customs) and is also referred to as “Örfi Hukuk” (Customary/Common Law). The Sultan would issue kanuns via royal decrees known as “ Ferman”. When a collection of kanuns large enough is compiled and published, it is called a kanun-name (literally: “book of law”). Individual kanun-names would be given to provinces following their conquest, preserving the local traditions and legal principles under the previous rule. In fact, the adaptation of public law of a conquest is typical in Islamic Empires; since the Sharia gives no guidance in political administration and governance, Islamic Empires have historically adapted local practices and laws since the Four Caliphates. Alas, the variance in public laws within the empire does not take away from the importance of the kanun-names in solidifying central authority in the Ottoman Empire. The legitimacy of the laws issued by the sultans was justified based on the authority given to rulers by Islam, in the Quranic verse: ''"Obey those in authority among you" (Qur'an 4:59).'' However, this obedience was conditional and was not allowed to surpass obedience to Allah and Prophet Muhammad. This is why while drafting the kanuns, Ottoman Sultans collaborated with state administrators in the Imperial Council (Divan). Among these administrators, religious scholars (
ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...
) were always present. However, some scholars argue that these kanun-names conflicted with secular governance and were in conflict with Islamic jurisprudence (
fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
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''Fiqh'' is of ...
) and fatwas. One example of such a controversial edict is
Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
’s codification of
fratricide Fratricide (; – the assimilated root of 'to kill, cut down') is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (an assassin). The victim need not be ...
. The kanun-name was first codified by Mehmed II, after the
fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453. With one of his kanuns, Mehmed sanctioned the enthroned prince’s execution of all his brothers. In the eyes of the ulemas, the prevention of civil war deemed the law sufficiently flexible to be in line with the sharia, even though it is murder. The kanun-name also replaced
hadd ''Hudud'' is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". The word is applied in classical Islamic literature to punishments (ranging from public lashing, public stoning to death, amputation of hands, crucifixion, depending on the c ...
(punishment) with ta’zir, which adjusted the punishment according to the degree of the crime and the economic status of the criminal. Various sultans issued kanuns outlining punishments for theft in which the specific crime did not exactly match the Islamic legal stipulations. As such, scholars have generally characterized kanuns prior to the 1530s as “secular” in relation to the Sharia, but allowable since it is allowed for rulers to keep public order and uphold justice. In Turkish,
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
is known as "Kanuni", the "Lawgiver", for his contributions as a lawmaker. Suleiman compiled all of the kanun-names before him, filtered through and edited them, and issued a single sultanic code, which would last for more than three-hundred years. His reforms include laws in land tenure and taxation, trusts in mortmain, marriage, and crimes and torts. Sultan Suleiman’s Shaykh al-Islam, Ebussuud, is credited with aligning common law with Islamic law, by helping establish the title of
Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
to the Ottoman sultan. Not only was Suleiman ruler of the Ottoman Empire and leader of all Sunni Muslims (
ummah ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective com ...
), but now he was also ‘the interpreter and executor of God’s law’. This in turn completely blurred the lines between a supposedly secular kanun and the Sharia Law. It also brought the Islamic legal offices of jurisconsult (
mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...
) and Kadi fully under the ideological and fiscal authority of the Sultan. This shift in legislative power would eventually pave the way for the radical reforms in Ottoman law down the line.


Reform efforts

In the late 19th century, the Ottoman legal system saw substantial reform. This process of legal modernization began with the
Edict of Gülhane The Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerifi ("Supreme Edict of the Rosehouse") or Tanzimât Fermânı ("Imperial Edict of Reorganization") was a proclamation by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1839 that launched the Tanzimât period of reforms and re ...
of 1839. These series of law reforms began a new period of modernity in the Ottoman Empire that would pave the way for new Western ideas of politics and social ideology. These reforms included the "fair and public trial of all accused regardless of religion", the creation of a system of "separate competences, religious and civil", and the validation of testimony of non-Muslims. Specific land codes (
1858 Events January–March * January 9 ** Revolt of Rajab Ali: British forces finally defeat Rajab Ali Khan of Chittagong. ** Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide. * January 14 – Orsini affair: Pi ...
), civil codes ( 1869–1876), and a code of civil procedure also were enacted. This reformation of the Ottoman legal system is attributed to the growing presence of Western ideology within Ottoman society. Critical areas of progressive law reform such as liberalism, constitutionality, and rule of law were all characteristics of the European system and began taking effect within the sectors of law that made up the Ottoman legal system. This ideology began to overtake Sharia law in fields such as
commercial law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of Legal person, persons and organizations ...
,
procedural law Procedural law, adjective law, in some jurisdictions referred to as remedial law, or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil procedure, civil, lawsuit, criminal procedure, criminal or admini ...
, and
penal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is esta ...
and through these paths eventually into
family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...
. Areas of life such as inheritance, marriage, divorce, and child custody were undergoing progressive transformation as European influence continued its growth. These reforms were also put in place at the insistence of the Great Powers of Europe as well as a response to them. The Europeans had begun to chip away at the edges of the Empire, and their power was growing in the region. After the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...
,
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
was on the rise in Europe, and Westerners thought they had a humanitarian duty to intervene on behalf of the Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire whom they saw as being unfairly treated. The British especially gained more power with the
Treaty of Balta Liman The 1838 Treaty of Balta Liman, or the Anglo-Ottoman Treaty, was a formal trade agreement signed between the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. The trade policies imposed upon the Ottoman Empire, after the Treaty of Balta Lim ...
in 1838, that required the Ottomans to abolish Ottoman monopolies and allow British merchants full access to Ottoman markets, as well as taxing them equally. Overall, the Ottoman Empire was feeling the threat of the Western powers' growing influence over the Empire in general, as well as the Jews and Christians living within the Empire. The Tanzimat reforms came about as a response to this as well as from an Ottoman desire to modernize to compete with the growing European powers. Opposition to these legal changes can be found throughout historical accounts and historians believe that this reform was not due to popular demand of Ottoman citizens but rather to those who held power and influence within the empire. These reforms also cultivated the version of Ottoman
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
commonly referred to as
Ottomanism Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, . ) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878 First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire. Its proponents believed that it could create the Unity of the Peoples, , needed to keep religion-based ...
. Influenced by European versions of a shared national identity, the Ottomans thought that creating an Ottoman Nationalism system where the state controlled all levels of government and social life, as opposed to the previous system where people were organized by individual community and reputation, that they could stave off the encroaching European influence over the Empire. These reforms were based heavily on French models, as indicated by the adoption of a three-tiered court system. Referred to as the ''Nizamiye'', this system was extended to the local magistrate level with the final promulgation of the ''
Mecelle The Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliye (), or the Mecelle in short, was the civil code of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is the first Codification (law), codification of Sharia law by an Islamic nation. Name The Ottoman ...
'', a code of Islamic law covering all areas of civil law and procedure except family law. In an attempt to clarify the division of judicial competences, an administrative council laid down that religious matters were to be handled by religious courts, and statute matters were to be handled by the ''Nizamiye'' courts. Family law was codified in 1917, with the promulgation of the Ottoman Law of Family Rights.


Copyright

As the ''
Mecelle The Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliye (), or the Mecelle in short, was the civil code of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is the first Codification (law), codification of Sharia law by an Islamic nation. Name The Ottoman ...
'' had no copyright codes, the empire's first code was the "Author's Rights Act of 1910" (Hakk-ı Telif Kanunu, 2 Düstor 273 (1910), 12 Jamad ul Awal 1328 or 22 May 1910), which only protected domestic works. The empire was not a part of the Bern Convention. CITED: p. 205.


See also

*
Ministry of Justice (Ottoman Empire) The Ministry of Justice (; ) was the justice ministry of the Ottoman Empire, based in Constantinople (now Istanbul). It also served as the Ministry of Religions. "Il est remarqué que les autorites ecclesiastiques des Communautes non-musulmanes de ...
*
Düstur The Ottoman Code of Public Laws, also known as the Düstur or Destur or Doustour, was a set of laws in the Ottoman Empire.Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 23 (PDF p. 25) It includes the penal code as well as some civil and co ...
* '' Corps de droit ottoman'' * '' Législation ottomane'' *
Yassa The Yassa (alternatively ''Yasa'', ''Yasaq'', ''Jazag'' or ''Zasag''; ) was the oral law code of the Mongols, gradually built up through the reign of Genghis Khan. It was the '' de facto'' law of the Mongol Empire, even though the "law" was kep ...
*
Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...
*
Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...


References


Further reading

* - About the Law of the Vilayets *
Additional copy
at
Birzeit University Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...
* * * *
Alternate link
* * Kent F. Schull
Prisons in the Late Ottoman Empire: Microcosms of Modernity.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014. {{Ottoman Empire topics Islamic courts and tribunals Sharia Justice Ottoman Empire