Islamic Law In An Ottoman Context PDF Download

This dissertation is a study of dispute resolution in Ottoman Cairo during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. When engaged in disputes over property, domestic obligations, anti-social behaviour, insults, thefts and assaults, Cairenes had at their disposal a range of formal and informal dispute resolution institutions and practices. This dissertation is based around detailed studies of these varied forums and practices: shari`a courts, the Ottoman governor's Diwan, the practice of petitioning the Sultan, informal mediation carried out by community elders, and the intervention of military officers and strongmen in disputes. Using a variety of Arabic and Turkish archival materials, including records produced by shari`a courts and the governor's Diwan in Cairo, and the imperial palace in Istanbul, as well as contemporary narrative sources, I examine how Cairenes navigated and exploited this plural legal framework. Throughout the dissertation I pursue two inter-connected arguments, which address key issues in Islamic legal studies and in Ottoman historiography. The first argument concerns the relationship between Islamic law and political power. I show that the political authorities in the Ottoman empire played a far greater role in dispute resolution than historians have recognized. The shari`a courts did not constitute an autonomous judicial sphere. Both the imperial palace in Istanbul and the Ottoman governor of Egypt were intimately involved not only in the organization of Cairo's legal system, but also in the day-to-day administration of justice. This involvement was seen as legitimate, and indeed necessary, by contemporaries. The second argument concerns centre-periphery relations in the Ottoman empire. I suggest that despite the growing power of Egypt's provincial military elite during this period, Cairo remained tightly bound to the imperial centre, and that legal practice was one of the key bonds. Legal institutions in Cairo were in frequent communication with institutions in Istanbul. More importantly, Cairenes of different social strata made extensive use of the legal resources provided by the central Ottoman state. While the imperial government may have struggled to control Egypt's powerful households, the actions of ordinary Cairenes sustained the imperial relationship.