The Path to Modern Turkish Law (original) (raw)

The legal system of the Ottoman Empire was founded solidly on the principles of Islamic law, with absolute power belonging to the Sultan. In classical Islamic theory, “law is a divinely-ordained system preceding and not preceded by the Muslim state, controlling and not controlled by Muslim society.” The Sultan was his instrument and representative on earth. In principle, the Şeriat covered all aspects of Muslim life, public and private. The main function of the state was to maintain and enforce the divine rules. Thus, in theory, there was no legislative power to regulate any aspect of social or political life. However, in reality, the Sultans could not find answers to their complex government and society in revelation. When the Empire grew enormously, it became impossible to govern it by enforcing only Şeriat, which had only a few rules concerning public law. As a result, “in order to rule their wide lands by filling the vacuum in the field of public law, Ottoman Sultans made local ...