Shariʿa and Governance in Ottoman Egypt

In the mid-16th century, the Ottoman government sought to expand its tax revenue from Egypt through a controversial initiative to levy taxes on endowments (waqf). The controversy produced a diverse range of responses from Ottoman scholar-bureaucrats, such as Ebussuud Efendi, who supported the initiative; Egyptian scholars, including Ibn Nujaym and al-Ghayti, who opposed it; and the Ottoman governor, who worked to resolve it. Despite the opposing positions of the diverse actors, shariʿa served as the common medium for the articulation and negotiation of their opinions and helped produce a compromise that became foundational for the Ottoman tax regime in Egypt. In this episode, shariʿa constituted an instrument of governance. Such a role for shariʿa differs from its conception as an autonomous field of scholarly interpretation, or the understanding of it as an inclusive normative system encompassing rules emerging from both the interpretative activities of scholars and the definitive edicts and orders of rulers. Shariʿa did not constitute the endpoint of rulemaking; rather, it provided the shared language of terms and concepts through which different actors participated in the process of formulating rules

Ancient history · Archaeology · Corporate governance · Economics · Islam · Management · Monasticism · Ottoman empire · Political science · Politics · Waqf · History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law

• Waqf over a century

  Muhammad Bilal Zafar, Ahmad Jafar•International Journal of…•2025

  Incluir item

• Fetva Diplomacy

  Joshua M White•Journal of Early Modern History•2015

  Incluir item

• Politics, Law and Community in Islamic Thought

  Imran Iqbal•Islam and Christian–Muslim…•2013

  Incluir item

• What Is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic

  Khalil Andani•Islam and Christian–Muslim…•2016

  Incluir item

• Ideology and Juridical Discourse in Ottoman Egypt

  Kenneth M Cuno, Kenneth Cuno•Islamic Law and Society•1999

  Incluir item

• Poverty and Charity in Medieval Islam

  Ana María Carballeira Debasa, Adam Sabra•Studia Islamica•2003

  Incluir item

• The Safavid Threat and Juristic Authority in the Ottoman Empire During the 16th Century

  Open Access•Abdurrahman Atçıl•International Journal Middle East…•2017

  Incluir item

• The Establishment of Four Chief Judgeships in the Mamlūk Empire

  Joseph H Escovitz•Journal of the American Oriental…•1982

  Incluir item