Ottoman Fatwâ : an essay on the legal consultation (ifta') in the Ottoman Empire
Author
Yaycıoglu, Ali
Advisor
İnalcık, Halil
Date
1997Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Show full item recordAbstract
Legal consultation {/fla) is one important legal institution in Islamic legal
culture since the consolidation o f the Islamic law. In the Ottoman empire legal
consultation was carried out by the chief m ufti and the appointed provincial muftis. The
provincial m uftis were academic figures; most o f them performed teaching in the
respected colleges and legal consultation at the same time. The main functions of the
provincial m uftis were to issue fatwas for the private applications o f the people o f their
loealities and sometimes to give legal opinions to the kadis for complex problem as legal
experts. In the capital o f the Ottoman empire, the legal consultation for the private
applications was carried out by a bureau, fetvahane, subordinated to the chief mufti.
The fatwa department issued fatwa signed by the chief m ufti for the petitioners to be
presented in their lawsuits. The fatwa department had bureaucratic characteristics in the
process o f fatwa-issuance. In the fatwa-issuance, the main function of the fatwa
department was to construct appropriate queries fitting the legal problem exposed by
the petitioner. The fatwa had an important role in the court procedure, with other legal
instruments. Most of the tim e the fatwa was presented by the litigants to support their
claim, theoretically. The main function o f the fatwa was to sugge.st appropriate
adjudication for the kadi in the litigation at hand. In the court registers it appeared that
the litigant holding a fatwa most often won the suit.