The nineteenth century marks a period of major transition for the Ottoman Empire. The changes and transformations that took place during this century differed significantly from those in previous centuries … Continue reading Reading a Century of Change and Transformation through the ‘Ulamā
Jāmi‘ al-Riyāsatayn Shaykh al-Islām Hasan Fahmi Efendi
Jāmi‘ al-Riyāsatayn[1] Akşehirī Hasan Fahmi Efendi was born in 1796 in Ilgın, a district in Konya. He went to Konya to study at the important madrasas of the region and … Continue reading Jāmi‘ al-Riyāsatayn Shaykh al-Islām Hasan Fahmi Efendi
A Literary Bureaucrat Scholar and Shaykh al-Islām: Ahmad Ārif Hikmet Bey Efendi
Studies on the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islāms are largely focused on a few names, their fatwās, and their relations with the state. It is a fact that the fatwā constituted a … Continue reading A Literary Bureaucrat Scholar and Shaykh al-Islām: Ahmad Ārif Hikmet Bey Efendi
Ottoman Shaykh al-Islāms of the Nineteenth Century and their Intellectual Biographies
Foundational studies on Islamic legal history in the modern era have largely ignored Ottoman legal thought and experience. This approach, which dominated the historiography of Islamic law written in the … Continue reading Ottoman Shaykh al-Islāms of the Nineteenth Century and their Intellectual Biographies
Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s fatwā
By Mariam Sheibani Source: Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ al-Shahrazūrī. Fatāwā wa-masāʾil Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ. Edited by ʿAbd al-Muṭīʿ Amīn Qalʿajī. 2 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1986/1406. General Description: This excerpt is a response … Continue reading Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ’s fatwā
The Golden Collection of the Law’s Maxims
By Mariam Sheibani Source: Al-ʿAlāʾī, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Khalīl. Al-Majmūʿ al-mudhhab fī qawāʿid al-madhhab. Edited by Majīd ʿAlī al-ʿUbaydī and Aḥmad Khudayrʿ Abbās. 2 vols. Amman: Dār ʿImār, 1425/2004. General Description: … Continue reading The Golden Collection of the Law’s Maxims
Classical and Contemporary Scholarly Understandings of Verses 97 to 100 of An-Nisāʾ
By Hamzah Raza Verses 97 to 100 of Surah an-Nisāʾ, the fourth chapter of the Qur'ān, refer to one of the most consequential events in Islamic history. The hijrah was … Continue reading Classical and Contemporary Scholarly Understandings of Verses 97 to 100 of An-Nisāʾ