Thread by @AhmedAlBahri_

🧵🪡: An overview of the history of how The Ottoman Siyāsa Shar‘iyyah combined Governance and Islamic Jurisprudence:

This thread aims to explore how Ottoman jurists justified governance innovations and revolutionary policies under an ever-changing world and empire.

1) The Ottoman Empire (1299–1924) developed a revolutionary model of governance through Siyāsa Shar‘iyyah (Islamic political jurisprudence). This system allowed rulers to enact state laws (Qanun) alongside Shari‘ah while ensuring legitimacy within the Islamic legal framework.

2) What is Siyāsa Shar‘iyyah?
Siyāsa Shar‘iyyah (السياسة الشرعية) refers to the discretionary power of the ruler to formulate policies in the public interest (Maslahah) within the bounds of Shari‘ah.

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) argued:
“The ruler must establish justice and uphold divine law. Where no explicit ruling exists, he exercises Ijtihad to secure Maslahah.”
- (Al-Siyāsa al-Shar‘iyyah fi Islah al-Ra‘i wa al-Ra‘iyyah, p. 12).

3) Ottoman Legal Dualism: Shari‘ah
Shari‘ah courts (Mahākim Shar‘iyyah) applied Hanafi jurisprudence with a focus on Urf (Cultural Norms), governing family law, inheritance, contracts, and religious matters. This Allowed for Novel Governorship of different principalities.

Qanun (Imperial Decrees) regulated areas like taxation, land tenure, criminal law, and military affairs where day-to-day issues were run by the local Judge. This pragmatic legal synthesis allowed the state to govern effectively while maintaining religious legitimacy.

4) The Role of the ʿUlama: Balancing Authority The Sultan’s legislative authority was not absolute. The Shaykh al-Islam, the highest Islamic jurist, had the power to legitimise or challenge imperial laws through Fatwas.

Ebussuud Efendi (d. 1574), the most influential Ottoman jurists of his age, ruled:

“The Sultan’s laws (Qawānīn) are binding unless they contradict divine law.”
This shows the disparity between the Ottomans and the Medieval Kings who acted as Vicegerent and what they said went.

5) Revolutionary Policies: The Millet System The Ottomans pioneered legal pluralism through the Millet System, which granted non-Muslim communities (dhimmis) self-governance under their own religious laws.

This was unprecedented in history at such a scale. Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities operated autonomous legal systems under their respective patriarchs and rabbis, reducing sectarian conflict as well as culturally enriching the State for all to benefit.

This came to great benefit as on many occasions religious minorities would often side with the Ottomans against their feudal Medieval Christian Lords which greatly aided Ottoman influence, especially in the Balkans and acted as a form of Dawah (Proselytisation) to the masses.

6) Devshirme: The system (Christian child levy) was legally justified under Maslahah and Ijtihad. This system:
A) Recruited non-Muslims into the Janissary Corps & bureaucracy, fostering social mobility.
B)Created a meritocratic elite not based on tribal or hereditary privilege.

Ebussuud Efendi issued Fatwas allowing Devshirme on the basis that it served the broader interests of the Islamic state As is bolstered bilateral relations synthesising cultures especially in the balkans which allowed for ease of Ottomanisation and digestion of Islamic culture,

7) Tanzimat (1839–1876): The Tanzimat Reforms aimed to modernise the empire while maintaining Islamic legitimacy due to the lack of development from the sultans prior as well as greed from the Sultan's court and Inter Pasha Politics.

Some Key reforms included:
1: Abolishing tax farming and shifting to a centralised system.
1: Codifying rights for Muslims and non-Muslims in Secular law.
3: Expanding a Western-inspired education system which was well received by the Young Ottomans but shunned by clerics

8) The 1876 Ottoman Constitution: Amongst Revolt and bureaucracy the Ottomans enacted a constitution (Kanun-i Esasi) that blended Islamic governance with parliamentary structures.
It declared Shari‘ah as the foundation of legislation but used a Mashwarah system of parliament.

9) The Majalla (Ottoman Civil Code, 1876): A Modernized Shari‘ah The Majalla was a landmark codification of Hanafi jurisprudence, influencing Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan. Creating unbreakable Ties which influence the Muslim Ummah today.

This Majalla allowed for major events such as the Silk Letter Plot in India to take place in the future, as it affected trade on a great scale thus allowing bilateral relations to be strengthened across the Muslim world which can still be seen today via exchange of culture.

Wael Hallaq describes it as:

“A pivotal moment where Islamic jurisprudence was systematised into a structured legal code, enabling its continuity in modern states.” (Shari‘a: Theory, Practice, Transformations, 2009).

10) Legacy: Islam, Law, and Pragmatism The Ottoman experience demonstrates that Islamic governance is not static and it adapts under Usul and Urf which is ever-changing at all times without the compromisation of fundamental Islamic principles.

Furthermore, The Ottomans proved that Shari‘ah can coexist with legal pluralism, meritocracy, and constitutionalism, offering valuable insights for contemporary debates on Islamic governance thus proving Islam is for all times, rebutting Modernism in the process.

In Conclusion, The Ottomans were truly a Marvel of History and Masters of Politics, using religion to strategically gain power and cement their rule, which was well received by the masses via appropriate policy reforms in respect to geographical area and Theological affiliation.

Sources:
İnalcık, H. (1973) The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600. London: Phoenix Press, P. 52
Imber, C. (1997) Ebu’s-su‘ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition. Istanbul: The Isis Press, P. 73.
Akgündüz, A. (1996) Islamic Public Law in the Ottoman Empire. Leiden: Brill, P. 45

Hallaq, W. (2009) Shari‘a: Theory, Practice, Transformations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, P. 127.
Hanioğlu, Ş. (2008) A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 87.

Shaykh Al Islam Ibn Abidin, M. (2005) Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar. 1st ed. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, P. 92.

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