Law, Empire, and the Sultan: Ottoman Imperial Authority and Late Hanafi Jurisprudence

by Samy A. Ayoub

Overview

This book is the first study of late Hanafism in the early modern Ottoman Empire. It examines Ottoman imperial authority in authoritative Hanafi legal works from the Ottoman world of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries CE, casting new light on the understudied late Hanafi jurists (al-muta'akhkhirun). By taking the madhhab and its juristic discourse as the central focus and introducing "late Hanafism" as a framework of analysis, this study demonstrates that late Hanafi jurists assigned probative value and authority to the orders and edicts of the Ottoman sultan. This authority is reflected in the sultan's ability to settle juristic disputes, to order specific opinions to be adopted in legal opinions (fatawa), and to establish his orders as authoritative and final reference points. The incorporation of sultanic orders into authoritative Hanafi legal commentaries, treatises, and fatwa collections was made possible by a shift in Hanafi legal commitments that embraced sultanic authority as an indispensable element of the lawmaking process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190092924
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/02/2020
Series:	Oxford Islamic Legal Studies
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Samy A. Ayoub is an Assistant Professor of Law and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration
List of Figures
About the Author

Introduction
Chapter 1. Ibn Nujaym: The Father of Late Hanafism?
Chapter 2. "The Sultan Says": Ottoman Sultanic Authority in Late Hanafi Tradition
Chapter 3. If Abu Hanifa Were Here: Authority, Continuity, and Revision in Late Hanafi Jurisprudence
Chapter 4. Ottoman Rationale for Codification: The Mecelle
Conclusion

Appendix A. Examples of Early and Late Hanafi Opinions in Ibn Abidin's Hashiya
Appendix B. Examples of Ma'rudat in al-Haskafi's al-Durr al-Mukhtar
Appendix C. Examples of Early and Late Hanafi Opinions in Radd al-Muhtar
Appendix D. Examples of Ma'rudat Abi al-Su'ud in Radd al-Muhtar
Appendix E. Thematic Tables of the Mecelle Articles
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"The book brilliantly illustrates the transformation of the relationship between Ḥanafi legal scholars and the state as well as the rulers' influence on the law and the legal discourse ... A striking feature of Ayoub's book is his skilled and convincing use of the primary sources of Ḥanafi scholars ... Ayoub's book is an extremely precious contribution to the literature." — Murat Burak Aydin, Journal of the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory

"Ayoub's meticulous study casts a much-needed light on the creativity and innovation of the late Hanafi tradition. By focusing on the tradition from within, Law, Empire, and the Sultan makes a significant contribution to the scholarly debate on the nature of the Islamic legal order in general and in recent centuries in particular." — Guy Burak, Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic and Jewish Studies, New York University

"Professor Samy Ayoub's Law, Empire, and the Sultan challenges the view that Muslim jurists operated outside of political authority by showing how Ottoman Hanafi scholars from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries endorsed the Sultan's role in lawmaking. This rich account of late Hanafi jurisprudence should appeal to those with interests in Islamic law, Ottoman history, and processes of legal change." — Shirin Sinnar, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

"Samy Ayoub's book is an important contribution to the growing field of Ottoman legal studies. Using the writings of what he calls 'late Hanafis,' Ayoub demonstrates that the Ottoman sultan played an active role in shaping the empire's legal system. This distinctive tradition of legal thinking was the basis from which nineteenth century legal reform and codification began. This book is a required reading for anyone interested in Islamic legal history, Ottoman history, and the origins of legal modernity in the Middle East." — Adam Sabra, Professor and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

"In Law, Empire, and the Sultan, Samy Ayoub offers a fresh perspective on two of the most widely debated issues in Islamic legal history: the relationship between fiqh as a 'jurists law' and the authority of temporal rulers, and the process of codification. The study adds substance to the growing recognition that the rise of the nation state did not represent a sudden rupture in the development of Islamic legal discourses, but was preceded by significant developments in scholarly attitudes toward the legal authority of rulers. Rather than focusing on the agency of the Ottoman state, Ayoub offers a perspective from within the intellectual and religious world of Ottoman legal scholars." — Marion Katz, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University

"Professor Ayoub's Law, Empire, and the Sultan is an important contribution to the study of late Hanafism in the Ottoman Empire, and a very welcome complication of clichéd claims that Islamic Law was purely a jurists' law. This book is both an important contribution in Islamic legal history and to our understanding of the role of the state in the jurisprudence of Islamic law." — Mohammad Fadel, Professor of Law, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

From the Publisher