The Ottoman qadi was a jurist-administrator who heard cases in his district, recorded marriages and inheritances, inspected the market and kept order on behalf of the state. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, no other official had so broad a field of duty. In this article we describe the qadi’s work and the daily functioning of the court on the basis of the sources.
Quick Summary
- The Ottoman qadi belonged to the ilmiye class; he was both a judge and a city administrator.
- The court had a single judge, and its rulings as a rule took effect immediately.
- Qadis were appointed by a sultan’s patent (berat), usually for two years.
- Price-fixing (narh), market inspection and preparations for campaigns were also the qadi’s business.
- The oldest known sharia court registers are the Bursa registers dated 1455.
Contents
- Who was the qadi?
- The qadi’s career
- Duties
- How the court worked
- The sharia court registers
- The limits of authority
- Frequently asked questions
Who Was the Ottoman Qadi?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, from the time of the beylik onward a qadi was appointed to conquered places to represent the law, and a subaşı to represent the administration. The qadi was a man of sharia law belonging to the ilmiye class. He was, however, counted among the provincial officials and, like the ruling group, was a member of the tax-exempt askeri class.
This position gave him a two-way role. On the one hand the qadi was an official of the central government. On the other, he was the spokesman of the people of his district before the state. It was he who submitted requests such as moving a marketplace to the center on the people’s behalf.
He did not interfere in the internal affairs of non-Muslims, but he also had to watch over their rights and financial obligations. According to the encyclopedia, there was always a qadi even in the remotest corners. For this reason the Ottoman qadi was regarded for centuries as an official who symbolized sovereignty.
How Was an Ottoman Qadi Trained?
From Madrasa to Mülazemet
According to the encyclopedia, the first madrasa for the training of qadis was founded as early as the time of Orhan Gazi. The ranking among the professions of teaching, judging and issuing fatwas took shape in the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. By founding the Sahn-ı Seman, Mehmed II set out the level of education required for the office of qadi. For the stages of the madrasa, take a look at our article on the education system.
A danişmend who had completed the Süleymaniye madrasas applied to the kadiasker and entered mülazemet, a kind of traineeship. For three to five years he learned the profession alongside senior qadis in important sanjaks. He then came to Istanbul and, once he had passed the examination, was appointed to a district at the lowest level.
The Berat, the Ruznamçe and the Two-Year Term
Qadis were always appointed by a sultan’s berat. The offices of the kadiaskers of Anatolia and Rumelia handled appointments, promotions and transfers and recorded them in a register called the ruznamçe. A berat that had not been entered in the register was considered void. The acts of a qadi who took up office without a berat were called “setting up an unauthorized court without a berat” and were invalid.
As a rule, qadis were appointed to a place for two years; this was called the müddet-i örfiyye (customary term). When the term ended, the qadi returned to the center and waited to be appointed to a district of the next rank. According to the encyclopedia, this system began to falter after the 17th century.
From District Qadi to Mevleviyet
A qadi who had completed the highest of the district judgeships waited to be appointed to sanjak centers with the rank of mevleviyet. This was a hard step to clear in the profession. First came the devriye mevleviyets, such as Maraş, Baghdad, Sofia and Konya. Then came the mahreç mevleviyets, such as Jerusalem, Aleppo, İzmir and Salonica.
Higher still were the bilad-ı hamse, the “five cities”: Bursa, Damascus, Cairo, Edirne and Plovdiv. After the judgeships of Mecca and Medina came the judgeship of Istanbul. At the top of the ladder stood the kadiaskerships of Anatolia and Rumelia.
What Duties Did the Ottoman Qadi Carry Out?
According to the encyclopedia, the Ottoman qadi’s duties covered the administrative, municipal, financial, military and judicial fields. It would therefore be wrong to think of him only as a judge sitting in his office. The qadi was at the same time an active administrator, a financial official and an inspector.
Justice and Investigation
The qadi’s main work was to hear cases. Disputes over debts, credits, inheritance, divorce, maintenance, sales and rents came to his court. According to the encyclopedia, the qadi also carried the duties of today’s public prosecutor and investigating judge. A place could be searched or a person arrested only on his orders.
The Market, Price-Fixing and Urban Order
The qadi was the busiest administrator in the city. He inspected the markets and bazaars and supervised the neighborhoods through their imams. Every year, together with the muhtesib, the guild stewards and the yiğitbaşıs, he fixed official prices (narh) for goods and services. He also maintained the city’s building order together with the chief architect.
We described the world of markets, inns and bedestens in our article on commercial spaces.
Campaigns, Taxes and Public Order
In time of campaign, the repair of the roads, bridges and fountains along the army’s route was the qadi’s responsibility. The collection of avarız taxes and the provision of archers, oarsmen and pack horses were also among his tasks. He checked whether fortress commanders were doing their duty and also oversaw devshirme matters. As the chief of public order, he had coffeehouses and taverns closed when necessary.
What Was Daily Life Like in the Courts?
Meclis-i Şer: A Single-Judge Court
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the Ottoman qadi’s court was called the meclis-i şer or mahfil-i şer. It was a single-judge court and, in principle, had a single instance. Local rulings, apart from some criminal cases, took effect as soon as they were given. Appeals were examined when necessary by the Imperial Council (Divan-ı Hümayun).
The court was the sole competent authority in both sharia and customary (örfi) cases. In personal matters such as family and inheritance, non-Muslims could go to their own community courts if they wished. In other areas they too applied to the qadi. We described this order in detail in our article on the millet system.
The Court’s Assistants
A qadi who could not hear every case across a wide area had deputies (naib). According to the encyclopedia, the word nahiye, still used today, is a remnant of the area of a naib’s court. Clerks wrote the deeds (hüccet) and rulings (ilam), and summoners (muhzır) called the parties to court. Estate dividers (kassam) dealt with the division of inheritances.
The people who bore witness that the trial was held openly were called şühudü’l-hal. They came from among the parties’ relatives or professional circles, and their names were entered in the register. Mediators called muslihun played a role in settling cases by agreement.
Fatwas, Proxies and Fees
Parties sometimes presented the court with a fatwa they had obtained from a mufti. According to the encyclopedia, ruling against a fatwa that matched the facts of the case was a strong reason for the judgment to be overturned. The parties appeared in court in person or were represented by a proxy. There was, however, no profession of lawyer.
In the reign of Bayezid I, on the proposal of Grand Vizier Çandarlızade Ali Pasha, fees began to be charged for cases, divisions of inheritance and deeds. This provided a steady income for the qadi and his assistants. The amounts of the fees were fixed by law codes.
It is not known for certain when special buildings were set aside for courts. The judgeship of Istanbul and the kadiaskerships moved to Ağakapısı in 1836. According to the encyclopedia, official court premises were probably established long before that.
The Sharia Court Registers: The Court’s Memory
The registers kept by the Ottoman qadi or his deputy were called şeriyye sicili, kadı sicili or court records. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, these registers are the most important sources containing the legal relations of people of every class. The history of the family, society, the economy and law is written largely from these records.
The oldest known examples are the Bursa registers dated 1455. Today 796 registers survive for Bursa, while those of Edirne begin only in 1538. According to the encyclopedia, this difference shows that some registers survived by chance.
The registers contained two kinds of documents. Rulings, deeds and probate records produced in court formed the first group. Copies of fermans, buyuruldus and berats sent from Istanbul formed the second. Marriage, dower, divorce, inheritance and women’s property rights appear frequently in these records.
We discussed the value of these records for women’s history in our article on the place of women. For the first codification of family law see our article on the first family law, and for the charitable institutions often reflected in the registers, our article on the waqf system.
How Was the Qadi’s Authority Balanced?
According to the encyclopedia, in the provinces the qadi, the defterdar and, from the ehl-i örf, the beylerbeyi or sanjak bey were conceived as three elements balancing one another. The qadi was not fully independent of the beylerbeyi in his military and administrative duties. In his supervision of endowments and madrasas, however, he was independent.
The penalty of siyaset (execution by sultanic authority) was not applied to the Ottoman qadi, and violations of this rule were rare. That is why Murad IV’s execution of the qadi of İznik for not having the roads cleared provoked a reaction. Suleiman the Magnificent had also hanged the qadi of Kızıl Yenice for stealing post-station money.
Authority was also abused at times. Some qadis went out on inspections to increase their income and collected fees by forcibly dividing estates. Although the law codes forbade this, such complaints never ceased. Some qadis did not go to their posts at all and left the administration of justice to their deputies.
Judgeships were made permanent only after the Tanzimat. According to the encyclopedia, the 1876 Kanun-ı Esasi gave the irremovability of judges a constitutional guarantee. The sharia courts were abolished by a law passed in April 1924. With the opening of the Law School in Ankara and the Law on the Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat), the actual function of the qadi and the training for it came to an end.
Frequently Asked Questions
How was an Ottoman qadi appointed?
After madrasa education and mülazemet he was registered with the office of the kadiasker and appointed by a sultan’s berat, usually for two years.
Where did the Ottoman qadi get his income?
According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, from the reign of Bayezid I onward, the fees charged for cases, divisions of inheritance and deeds provided a steady income for the qadi and his assistants.
Were there lawyers in the qadi’s court?
No. The parties took part in person or through a proxy; there was no profession of lawyer.
What is a sharia court register?
These are the registers kept by the qadi or his deputy, containing court rulings and copies of deeds, probate records and fermans.
When was the office of qadi abolished?
The sharia courts were abolished by a law passed in April 1924.
Conclusion
The Ottoman qadi was a rare kind of official who combined the office of judge with city administration in one person. His career, shaped by the madrasa, mülazemet and the berat, was bound to a strict hierarchy. Although his court had a single judge, it worked openly with assistants such as clerks, deputies and şühudü’l-hal. Today, thanks to the sharia court registers, we can trace this everyday justice in detail.
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