The qādcombining dot belowī's dīwān (sijill) before the Ottomans

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

Volumn 61, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 415-436

  Hallaq, Wael B ^a  

^a MCGILL UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039788238     PISSN: 0041977X     EISSN: 14740699     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0041977x00019273     Document Type: Article

References (184)

1. See 'Ādel Mannā', 'The sijill as source for the study of Palestine during the Ottoman period, with special reference to the French invasion', in David Kushner (ed.), Palestine in the late Ottoman period (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1986), 351-62, esp. 351-3;
2. Najwa al-Qattan, 'Dhimmīs in the Muslim court: documenting justice in Ottoman Damascus, 1775-1860' (Harvard University: Ph.D. Dissertation, 1996), 89 ff.
3. Suraiya Faroqhi, 'Sidjill', Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed. (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960-), IX, 539b;
4. 'We do not know when the practice of keeping these registers [viz., sijills] was first instituted, and can only speculate from which Muslim state the practice was copied.' Jon Mandaville argues that the practice had Islamic antecedents, but his statement on the matter is couched in suppositional terms: 'There is every reason to suppose that the maintenance of written records was standard judicial procedure for the courts of every Islamic government that had some established form of administration - and for perhaps a few that did not.' See his 'The Ottoman court records of Syria and Jordan', Journal of the American Oriental Society, 86, 1966, 311-19, at 311.
5. Ebied and Young are more explicit, arguing on the basis of one historical report that the court records played an important role in Islamic law from 'a very early period, even though they have generally been neglected in the legal theory of the Sharī'ah.' The report tells of a qādcombining dot belowī who was dismissed from his post because he failed to take proper care of his books. See R. Y. Ebied and J. L. Young, Some Arabic legal documents of the Ottoman period (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1976), 1. Later on, we shall see that it is not true that court records were neglected in the theory, by which Ebied and Young seem to mean the doctrine of positive law.
6. Mannā', 'The sijill as source', 352.
7. 'A collection of medieval Arabic documents in the Islamic Museum at the Hcombining dot belowaram al-Šarīf', Arabica, 25, 1978, 282-91.
8. Arabische und persische Privaturkunden des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts aus Ardabil (Aserbaidschan) (Berlin: Karl Schwarz, 1982). H. Rabie has also found court records belonging to the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. The majority of these documents, however, belong to the latter period.
9. See his Financial system of Egypt, A.H. 564-741/A.D. 1169-1341 (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), 6f.
10. For other Mamluk legal documents, See Mahcombining dot belowmūd Hcombining dot belowammūda, al-Madkhal ilā dirāsat al-wathā'iq al-'Arabiyya (Cairo: Dār al-Thaqāfa, 1980), 187-213.
11. In fact, the present article was primarily precipitated by a deep conviction that pre-Ottoman court records have once existed in multitudes, and that, more importantly, at least some of these will eventually be discovered. The explanation I advance in section VIII, below, should not be construed to contradict the premises of this conviction, for accounting for the failure of these records to survive does not mean that some will not finally be recovered. Monika Gronke's discovery (see preceding note) is an eloquent attestation of the soundness of this conviction.
12. For a good survey of Ottoman court records in various regions, see Faroqhi, 'Sidjill', IX, 541;
13. Mandaville, 'Ottoman court records', 312-9;
14. Ronald C. Jennings, The judicial registers (Ser'i Mahkeme Sicilleri) of Kayseri (1590-1630) as a source for Ottoman history (University of California, Los Angeles: Ph.D. dissertation, 1971), 21 ff.
15. See sections IV and VIII, below.
16. Shams al-Dīn Ibn Tcombining dot belowūlūn, Oudcombining dot belowāt dimashq aw al-thaghr al-bassām fī dhikr man wullī qadcombining dot belowā' al-Shām, ed. Scombining dot belowalāhcombining dot below al-Dīn al-Munajjid (Damascus: al-Majma' al-'Ilmī al-'Arabī, 1956), 309-21;
17. Sharaf al-Dīn al-Anscombining dot belowārī's Dhayl to Ibn Tcombining dot belowūlūn's work, 322 ff., which covers the period up to the year 1000/1591.
18. See also the extensive account of the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Ahcombining dot belowmad Ibn Iyās, Badā'i' al-zuhūr fī waqā'i' al-duhūr, 6 vols. (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1960), v, 151 ff.
19. This is based on a fairly thorough reading of these works, especially the sections which cover the Ottoman period.
20. 5th ed. (St Paul: West Publishing Co., 1979), 318. The other definitions are certainly alien to the Islamic 'judicial assembly' (majlis al-hcombining dot belowukm), since the structure and jurisdiction of Western courts differ considerably from their Islamic counterpart.
21. The only obvious exception are the witnesses who are irreplaceable. The scribe, the muzakkūn, the hcombining dot belowājib, and other less central court officials may, theoretically at least, be disposed of at will. In fact, it was at times the case that the qādcombining dot belowī himself would fulfil one or another function otherwise occupied by a court official. Abū 'Umar Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Yūsuf al-Kindī, Akhbār qudcombining dot belowāt Miscombining dot belowr, ed. Rhuvon Guest (repr., Cairo: al-Fārūq al-Hcombining dot belowadītha li'l-Tcombining dot belowibā'a wa'l-Nashr, n.d.), 386, states that it was only towards the end of the second/eighth century that the qādcombining dot belowī's staff included a number of officials. During earlier periods, he observes, 'no one accompanied the qādcombining dot belowī except his scribe' (kātib).
22. Black's law dictionary, 320.
23. Ibrāhīm al-Hcombining dot belowalabī, Multaqā al-abhcombining dot belowur, ed. Wahbī Sulaymān al- Albānī, 2 vols. (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Risāla, 1409/1989), II, 70;
24. Ibn Iyās, Badā'i' al-Zuhūr, V, 243. The prime consideration in choosing a location to hold court is accessibility. 'Allāma al-Hcombining dot belowillī states, relying on the authority of other scholars, that any spacious and open location, including the desert, would be fit for holding court.
25. Sec his Mukhtalaf al-Shī'a fī ahcombining dot belowkām al-sharī'a, 8 vols. (Qum: Markiz al-Abhcombining dot belowāth wal-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya, 1991), VIII, 374;
26. Ibrāhīm Shams al-Dīn Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Farhcombining dot belowūn, Tabscombining dot belowirat al-hcombining dot belowukkām fī uscombining dot belowūl al-aqdcombining dot belowiya wa-manāhij al-ahcombining dot belowkām, 2 vols, (repr., Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al- 'Ilmiyya, 1987), I, 26-8;
27. Taqī al-Dīn Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Ahcombining dot belowmad Ibn al-Najjār, Muntahā al-irādāt, ed. 'Abd al-Mughnī 'Abd al-Khāliq, 2 vols. (Cairo: Maktabat Dār al-'Urūba, 1381/1962), II, 579.
28. Ibn Abī al-Damm, Adab al-qadcombining dot belowā', 64, 65, 442, 443, and passim;
29. Muhcombining dot belowammad 'Illīsh, Minahcombining dot below al-jalīl: sharhcombining dot below 'alā mukhtascombining dot belowar sīdī Khalīl, 9 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1989), VIII, 297, 298, 305;
30. Abū 'l-Qāsim Najm al-Dīn al-Muhcombining dot belowaqqiq al-Hcombining dot belowillī, Sharā'i' al-Islām fī masā'il al-hcombining dot belowalāl wa'lhcombining dot belowarām, ed. 'Abd al-Hcombining dot belowusayn Muhcombining dot belowammad 'Alī (Beirut: Dār al-Adcombining dot belowwā', 1389/1969), IV, 78.
31. Or such phrases as 'hcombining dot belowarrara mawlānā qādcombining dot belowī ...'. See, for instance, the Egyptian court dīwāns in 'Abd al-Rahcombining dot belowīm 'Abd al-Rahcombining dot belowīm and 'Abd al-Jalīl al-Tamīmī, ed., Wathā'iq al-mahcombining dot belowākim al-shar'iyya al-miscombining dot belowriyya 'an al-jāliya al-Maghāribiyya ibān al-'ascombining dot belowr al-'uthmānī, vol. 1 (Zaghouan: Manshūrāt Markaz al-Dirāsāt wa'l-Buhcombining dot belowūth al-'Uthmāniyya wa'l-Mūriskiyya wa'l-Tawthīq wa'l-Ma'lūmāt, 1992), 17, 18, 19, and passim;
32. Amnon Cohen, A world within, pt. 2 (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1994), 39/173(b), 39/253(b), and passim.
33. The fact that some records were characterized as sijills in the front page of the ledger (as, e.g., in al-Bāb al-'Alī, for the year 1055/1645-46) should not necessarily be taken to mean sijill in the technical sense discussed here. In such contexts, where the usual expression is something like 'ibtada'a hādhā al-sijill' (so and so began writing this sijill) the word sijill should be understood to mean a record of writing or a register. This is common usage in Arabic, and is attested widely since early classical times. In light of the fact that the qādcombining dot belowī's register was relatively of a large size, Ibn Manzcombining dot belowūr's definition becomes particularly relevant. In his Lisān al-'Arab, 15 vols. (Beirut: Dār Scombining dot belowādir, 1392/1972), XI, 326b, he defines 'sijill' as 'a large ledger' (huwa al-kitāb al-kabīr).
34. It is quite telling that the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam treats court records under the entry 'Sidjill' (IX, 539ff.)
35. whereas under 'Dīwān' (II, 323-37) they receive no mention whatsoever.
36. For the designations 'dīwān al-qadcombining dot belowā", 'dīwān al-qādcombining dot belowī', or 'dīwān al-hcombining dot belowukm', and for the fact that it contained subject matter in addition to the sijillāt, see the following: 'Alī b. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Ahcombining dot belowmad al-Simnānī, Rawdcombining dot belowat al-qudcombining dot belowāt wa-tcombining dot belowarīq al-najāt, ed. Scombining dot belowalāhcombining dot below al-Dīn al-Nāhī (Beirut: Mu'assasat al-Risāla, 1984), I, 111-12, 317, 318, paras. 1608, 1611, 319;
37. Abū Yūsuf Ya'qūb b. Ibrāhīm, Ikhtilāf Abī Hcombining dot belowanīfa wa-Ibn Abī Laylā (Cairo: Matcombining dot belowba'at al-Wafā', 1357/1938), 158, 162;
38. Kindī, Akcombining dot belowhbār qudcombining dot belowāt miscombining dot belowr, 360, 398, 410, 450;
39. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Khalaf Wakī', Akhbār al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 3 vols. (Beirut: 'Ālam al-Kutub, n.d.), II, 174;
40. Ahcombining dot belowmad b. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Salāma al-Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, Mukhtasar (Haidarabad: Matcombining dot belowba'at Dār al-Kitāb al-'Arabī, 1370/1950), 329;
41. Ahcombining dot belowmad b. 'Alī b. Hajar al-'Asqalānī, Raf' al-iscombining dot belowr 'an qudcombining dot belowāt Miscombining dot belowr, ed. Hāmid 'Abd al-Majīd, 2 vols. (Cairo: al-Hay'a al-'Āmma li-Shu'ūn al-Matcombining dot belowābi' al-Amīriyya, 1966), II, 269;
42. Abū Nascombining dot belowr al-Samarqandī, Rusūm al-qudcombining dot belowāt, ed. Muhcombining dot belowammad Jāsim al-Hcombining dot belowadīthī (Baghdad: Dār al-Hcombining dot belowurriyya li'l-Tcombining dot belowibā'a, 1985), 34, 36, 37, 43;
43. Ibn Abī al-Damm, Adab al-qadcombining dot belowā', 71, 75-6;
44. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Ahcombining dot belowmad al-Qaffāl al-Shāshī, Hcombining dot belowulyat al-'ulamā' fī ma'rifat madhāhib al-fuqahā', ed. Yāsīn Darārka, 8 vols. (Beirut: Maktabat al-Risāla, 1988), VIII, 141;
45. Muhcombining dot belowammad Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, al-Tcombining dot belowuruq al-hcombining dot belowukmiyya fī 'l-siyāsa al-shar'iyya, ed. Ahcombining dot belowmad al-'Askarī (Cairo: al-Mu'assasa al-'Arabiyya li'l-Tcombining dot belowibā'a wa'l-Nashr, 1380/1961), 240;
46. al-Shaykh al-Nizcombining dot belowām, ed., al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya (also known as al-Fatāwā al-'alamgīriyya), 6 vols
47. (repr., Beirut: Dār Ihcombining dot belowyā' al-Turāth al-'Arabī, 1980), III, 341, 346, 350;
48. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. 'Isā Ibn al-Munāscombining dot belowif, Tanbīh al hcombining dot belowukkām 'alā ma'ākhidh al-ahcombining dot belowkām, ed. 'Abd al-Hcombining dot belowafizcombining dot below Manscombining dot belowūr (Tunis: Dār al-Turkī li'i-Nashr, 1988), 67, 163, 170;
49. 'Abd al-Wahhāb al-Baghdadī, al-Ma'ūna, ed. Hcombining dot belowumaysh 'Abd al-Hcombining dot belowaqq, 3 vols. (Riyad: Maktabat Nizār al-Bāz, 1415/1995), III, 1506;
50. 'Alā' al-Dīn Abū 'l-Hcombining dot belowasan al-Tcombining dot belowarābulusī, Mu'īn al-hcombining dot belowukkām fī-mā yataraddad bayna al-khascombining dot belowmayn min al-ahcombining dot belowkām (Cairo: Muscombining dot belowtcombining dot belowafā Bābī al-Hcombining dot belowalabī, 1393/1973), II, 81;
51. Ahcombining dot belowmad b. 'Alī al-Rāzī al-Jascombining dot belowscombining dot belowāscombining dot below, Sharhcombining dot below adab al-qādī (of Khascombining dot belowscombining dot belowāf), ed. Farhcombining dot belowāt Ziyāda (Cairo: Qism al-Nashr bi'l-Jāmi'a al-Amrīkiyy'a, 1979), 59, 60, 61, 335, 336, 337;
52. Ibn Farhcombining dot belowūn, Tabscombining dot belowirat al-hcombining dot belowukkām, I, 39;
53. Muwaffaq al-Dīn 'Abd Allāh Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, 12 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-'Arabī, 1983), vol. XI, 433, 434-5;
54. Shams al-Dīn al-Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūtcombining dot below, 30 vols. (Cairo: Matcombining dot belowba'at al-Sa'āda, 1906-12), XVI, 94;
55. Kamāl al-Dīn b. al-Humām, Sharhcombining dot below fathcombining dot below al-qadīr, 10 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, n.d.), VII, 264-5;
56. Ahcombining dot belowmad b. 'Alī al-Qalqashandī, Scombining dot belowubhcombining dot below al-a'shā fī scombining dot belowinā'at al-inshā, 14 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1987), X, 274, 283, 284, 290. In Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, Spain, there is on permanent exhibit an original deed of sale of real property 'from Dīwān Ibn Sahl'.
57. For the dīwān of qādcombining dot belowī al-Jamā'a in Cordoba, see the unpublished paper of Christian Müller, 'Judging with God's law on earth: judicial powers of the Qādcombining dot belowī'l-ǧamā'a of Cordoba in the 5th/11th Century', 6.
58. However, our assertion that the qādcombining dot belowī's records were designated as dīwān is in no way undermined by the highly infrequent uses of other terms, such as dafātir (sg., daftar), dustūr or qimatcombining dot belowr. See Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowara, IV, 72, 94;
59. Ibn Abī al-Damm, Adab al-qadcombining dot belowā', 76;
60. Samarqandī, Rusūm al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 46.
61. For qimatcombining dot belowr, see n. 70, below. 21 Hcombining dot belowalabī, Multaqā al-abhcombining dot belowur, II, 70;
62. Zayn al-Dīn Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahcombining dot belowr al-rā'iq: sharhcombining dot below kanz al-daqā'iq, 8 vols. (Cairo: al-Matcombining dot belowba'a al-'Ilmiyya, 1311/1893), VI, 299;
63. Muhcombining dot belowammad Amīn b. 'Ābidīn, Hcombining dot belowāshiyat radd al-muhcombining dot belowtār,' 8 vols, (repr., Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1979), V, 369, 370. Rudolph Peters tells me that the nineteenth-century Egyptian court records he has investigated bear on their front page the designation 'Dīwān majlis al-hcombining dot belowukm'.
64. Hcombining dot belowāshiyat radd al-muhcombining dot belowtār, V, 369 (ll. 3, 26-8). It is perhaps in this general sense that the Ottomans used the term 'sicill'.
65. See, for instance, U. Heyd, Ottoman documents on Palestine, 1552-1615 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), 54 and passim.
66. For further detail on mahcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowir and sijillāt, see Ibn Abī al-Damm, Adab, 427-28;
67. Shihāb al-Dīn Ahcombining dot belowmad b. 'Abd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab, 31 vols. (Cairo: Matcombining dot belowba'at' Dār al-Kutub al-Miscombining dot belowriyya, 1351/1933), XI, 75 ff.;
68. al-Shaykh al-Nizcombining dot belowām, al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, VI, 160;
69. Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahcombining dot belowr al-rā'iq, VI, 299;
70. Shams al-Dīn al-Asyūtcombining dot belowī, Jawāhir al-'uqūd wa-mu'īn al-qudcombining dot belowāt wa'l-muwaqqi'̄n wa'l-Shuhūd, 2 vols. (Cairo: Matcombining dot belowba'at al-Sunna al-Muhcombining dot belowammadiyya, 1374/1955), II, 456, 495. It is noteworthy that one of the functions of keeping mahcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowir had to do with the qādcombining dot belowī consulting muftīs concerning difficult cases. By keeping such a record and by stating therein that he issued an istiftā', the qādcombining dot belowī would apparently make his request for a fatwā official.
71. See 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Azīz al-Hcombining dot belowusām al-Shahīd, Sharhcombining dot below adab al-qādcombining dot belowī, ed. Abū 'l-Wafā al-Afghānī and Muhcombining dot belowammad al-Hāshimī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1414/1994), 69.
72. Jascombining dot belowscombining dot belowāscombining dot below, Sharhcombining dot below adab al-qādcombining dot belowī, 372;
73. Asyūtcombining dot belowī, Jawāhir al-'uqūd, II, 495.
74. For two types (suwar) of sijillāt that were in common use in Samarkand, Bukhara and the surrounding regions, see Nizcombining dot belowām, al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, VI, 162-4, especially 164, 1. 11.
75. The mahcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowir and sijillāt are issued in two copies; one would remain in the qādcombining dot belowī's dīwān, and the other would be given to the party who solicits it.
76. See Ibn al-Najjār, Muntahā al-irādāt, II, 617;
77. Ibn Qudāma, Mughnī, XI, 433;
78. Abū Ja'far Ahcombining dot belowmad b. Muhcombining dot belowammad al-Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, al-Shurūtcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr, ed. Rūhcombining dot belowī Uzajān, 2 vols. (Baghdad: Matba'at al-'Anī, 1974), II, 823. In the practice of fifth/eleventh-century Cordoba, three copies were issued, one given to each of the litigating parties and the third was lodged in the qādcombining dot belowīs dīwān.
79. See Mūller, 'Judging with God's law on earth', 6.
80. Ibn 'Abidīn, Hcombining dot belowāshiyat radd al-muhcombining dot belowtār, V, 369;
81. Kindī, Akhbār qudcombining dot belowāt Miscombining dot belowr, 319;
82. Wakī', Akhbār al-qudcombining dot belowāt, II, 136, 174;
83. Simnānī, Rawdcombining dot belowat al-qudcombining dot belowāt, I, 112, 117;
84. Shāshī, Hcombining dot belowulyat al-'ulamā', VIII, 141;
85. Qalqashandī, Scombining dot belowubhcombining dot below al-a'shā, X, 284;
86. Nizcombining dot belowām, al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, III, 346;
87. Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowara, IV, 204;
88. 'Asqalānī, Raf' al-iscombining dot belowr, II, 280;
89. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfi'ī, al-Umm, 8 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1413/1993), VI, 305-6.
90. Samarqandī, Rusūm al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 36, 38;
91. Muhcombining dot belowammad 'Alī al-Hcombining dot belowā'irī al-Tcombining dot belowabātcombining dot belowabā'ī, al-Sharhcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr fī sharhcombining dot below al-mukhtascombining dot belowar al-nāfi', ed. Mahdī al-Rajā 'ī, 3 vols. (Qum: Matcombining dot belowba'at Sayyid al-Shuhadā', 1409/1988), III, 257;
92. Simnānī, Rawdcombining dot belowat al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 112;
93. Kindī, Akhbār al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 410;
94. Shams al-Dīn Muhcombining dot belowammad Ibn Muflihcombining dot below al-Hcombining dot belowanbalī, Kitāb al-Furū', ed. 'Abd al-Sattār Farrāsh, 6 vols. (Beirut: 'Alam al-Kutub, 1985), VI, 504;
95. Wael B. Hallaq, 'Qādcombining dot belowīs communicating: legal change and the law of documentary evidence', Al-Qantara (forthcoming, 1999).
96. 'Abd al-Ghanī al-Ghunaymī, al-Lubāb fī sharhcombining dot below al-kitāb, ed. Muhcombining dot belowammad 'Abd al-Hcombining dot belowamīd, 4 vols. (Cairo: Muhcombining dot belowammad 'Alī Scombining dot belowubayhcombining dot below, 1383/1963), IV, 79-80.
97. On dīwāns, see, under this entry, the Encyclopedia of Islam, II, 323-37.
98. Also see As'ad b. Mamātī, Kitāb Qawānīn al-dawānīn, ed. 'Azīz Sūryāl 'Atcombining dot belowiyya (Cairo: Maktabat Madbūlī, 1411/1991), 297-358.
99. See, for instance, Ibn Iyās, Badā'i' al-zuhūr, V, 224, 245, 277, 279, 307, 336, 338, 394 and passim.
100. 'Abd al-Mun'im Mājid, Nuzcombining dot belowum dawlat salātcombining dot belowīn al-mamātīk wa-rusūmuhum fī Miscombining dot belowr, 2 vols. (Cairo: al-Matcombining dot belowba'a al-Anjlū-Miscombining dot belowriyy'a, 1979), I, 97-9.
101. In the Sultanate period in India, the head of diwān al-mazcombining dot belowālim was at one and the same time in charge of the dīwān al-qadcombining dot belowā', which was subsidiary to the mazcombining dot belowālim. See under 'Dīwān', Encyclopedia of Islam, II, 336.
102. Sarakhsī, Mabsūtcombining dot below, XVI, 94;
103. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Ahcombining dot belowmad Ibn Rushd, Fatāwā, ed. al-Mukhtār b. Tcombining dot belowāhir al-Talīlī, 3 vols. (Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al- Islāmī, 1981), III, 1291.
104. Emile Tyan, Histoire de l'organisation judiciaire en pays d'Islam (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960), 255 ff.;
105. idem, 'Judicial organization', in Majid Khadduri and Herbert J. Liebesney (ed.), Law in the Middle East (Washington, D.C., 1955), 255. Although the normative practice was to issue a hcombining dot belowujja for the party who demands it, the request was denied in certain instances.
106. See, for instance, 'Abd al-Rahcombining dot belowmān b. Muhcombining dot belowammad Bā'alawī, Bughyat al-mustarshidīn fī talkhīscombining dot below fatāwā ba'dcombining dot below al-a'imma min al-'ulamā' al-muta'akhkhirīn (Cairo: Muscombining dot belowtcombining dot belowafā Bābī al-Hcombining dot belowalabī, 1952), 273.
107. Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Hcombining dot belowabīb al-Māwardī, al-Ahcombining dot belowkām al-sultcombining dot belowāniyya wa'l-wilāyāt al-dīniyya (Cairo: Dār al-Fikr, 1404/1983), 71;
108. Abū Ya'lā Muhcombining dot belowammad b. al-Farrā', al-ahcombining dot belowkām al-sultcombining dot belowāniyya (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1403/1983), 76.
109. On the nature of the shurūtcombining dot below and the shurūtcombining dot belowī's function, see Emile Tyan, 'Le notariat et le régime de la preuve par écrit dans la pratique du droit musulman', Annales de l'École Française de Droit de Beyrouth, 2, 1945, 1-99;
110. Hallaq, 'Model shurūtcombining dot below works', 109-34. It is to be noted that the scribe, when drafting documents outside the dīwān, did often charge a fee.
111. See Ibrāhīm Muhcombining dot belowammad Abū 'l-Fadcombining dot belowl Ibn al-Shihcombining dot belowna, Lisān al-hcombining dot belowukkām fī ma'rifat al-ahcombining dot belowkām (Cairo: Matba'at Muscombining dot belowtcombining dot belowafā Bābī al-Hcombining dot belowalabī, 1393/1973), 219.
112. Ibn Farhcombining dot belowūn, Tabscombining dot belowirat al-hukkām, I, 24, 25;
113. Tcombining dot belowarābulusī, Mu'īn al-hcombining dot belowukkām, 16;
114. Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, Mukhtascombining dot belowar, 329.
115. For an exhaustive list of the scribe's qualities, see Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab, IX, 1.
116. idem, al-Shurūtcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr, II, 913;
117. Simnānī, Rawdat al-qudcombining dot belowāt, I, 115-6;
118. 'Illīsh, Minahcombining dot below al-jalīl, VIII, 291.
119. Muhcombining dot belowammad al-Hcombining dot belowatcombining dot belowtcombining dot belowāb, Mawāhib al-jalīl fī sharhcombining dot below mukhtascombining dot belowar khalīl, 6 vols. (Tripoli, Libya: Maktabat al-Najāhcombining dot below, 1969), VI, 115, States that the authoritative doctrine (almadhhab) in the Malikite school is that irrespective of whether or not the kātib has a just character ('adl), the qādcombining dot belowī must inspect what he writes.
120. Ahcombining dot belowmad b. 'Abd al-Rahcombining dot belowīm b. al-Hcombining dot belowusayn, al-Dhayl 'alā al-'ibar fī khabari man ghabar, ed. Scombining dot belowālihcombining dot below 'Abbās, 3 vols. (Beirut:' Mu'assasat al-Risāla, 1989), II, 327.
121. II, 333, 418, 531.
122. 'Asqalānī, Raf' al-iscombining dot belowr, 337, 342, and passim.
123. Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowara, VI, 171. Ibn 'Abd al-'Azīz was appointed judge by the Caliph al-Mu'tadid Bil-Lāh in 283/896.
124. See, for instance, Ibn al-Munāscombining dot belowif, Tanbīh al-hcombining dot belowukkām, 68, 202;
125. Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, al-Shurūtcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaglūr, II, 833;
126. Marghīnānī, al-Hidāya, III, 102;
127. Ibn al-Humām, Sharhcombining dot below fathcombining dot below al-qadīr, VII, 264. Admittedly, not all jurists and judges forthrightly articulated the matter of future exigency. But this in no way weakens our argument, for the centrality of the institutions of the kātib and the dīwān in their discourse unambiguously means that that was the raison d'être of keeping the registry.
128. Tanbīh al-Hcombining dot belowukkām, 68; 'li-ya'tamid al-qādcombining dot belowī taqyīda kulli shay'in hcombining dot belowukima fih mimmā lahu bāl wa-'āqibatuhu mutawaqqa'a aw khiscombining dot belowām mutatcombining dot belowāwil.'
129. Rawdcombining dot belowat al-qudcombining dot belowāt, I, 112.
130. Nizcombining dot belowām, al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, 346;
131. Ibn al-Humām, Sharhcombining dot below fathcombining dot below al-qadir, VII, 264;
132. Ibn al-Munāscombining dot belowif, Tanbīh al-hcombining dot belowukkām, 67;
133. Ibn Nujaym, al-Bahr al-rā'iq, VI, 299;
134. Tcombining dot belowabātcombining dot belowabā'ī, al-Sharhcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr, III, 257;
135. al-Muhcombining dot belowaqqiq al-Hcombining dot belowillī, Sharā'i' al-Islām, IV, 72.
136. Samarqandī, Rusūm al-qudcombining dot belowāt, 34, 36;
137. Ibn al-Munāscombining dot belowif, Tanbīh, 67;
138. Ghunaymī, al-Lubāb fī sharh̄ al-kitāb, IV, 79.
139. Nizcombining dot belowām, al-Fatawā al-hindiyya, III, 346;
140. Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowara, VIII, 151;
141. Wakī', Akhbār qudcombining dot belowāt miscombining dot belowr, II, 159. The word qimatcombining dot belowr seems to have acquired a variety of meanings, depending on time and place. Murtadcombining dot belowā al-Hcombining dot belowusayn al-Zabīdī defines it merely as 'that in which books are preserved'.
142. See his Tāj al-'arūs min jawāhir al-qāmūs, ed. Hcombining dot belowusayn Nascombining dot belowscombining dot belowār, 25 vols. (Kuwait: Matcombining dot belowba'at Hcombining dot belowukūmat al-Kuwait, 1394/1974), XIII, 472-3.
143. However, in a more technical sense, Hcombining dot belowatcombining dot belowtcombining dot belowāb defines it 'as the register (zimām) in which documents arc recorded, and it may be called the qādcombining dot belowī's zimām'. See his Mawāhib al-Jalīl, VI, 116. Ibn al-Najjār defines it as the scaled register in which cases are recorded (huwa mā tajtami'u fī-hi al-qadcombining dot belowayā makhtūma).
144. See his Muntahā al-irādāt, II, 582.
145. Wakī', Akhbār al-qudāt, II, 125.
146. Samarqandī, Rusūm al-qadcombining dot belowāt, 34;
147. See also Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, al-Shurūtcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr, II, 834.
148. al-Bahcombining dot belowr al-rā'iq, VI, 300.
149. Adab al-qadcombining dot belowā', 75.
150. On idcombining dot belowbāra being a collection of loose leaves of paper or scrolls, see Ibn Manzcombining dot belowūr, Lisān al-'arab, IV, 479b.
151. Mughnī, XI, 434.
152. Ibn Qudâma, Mughnī, XI, 407;
153. These are causes that precipitate an enquiry, but are insufficient, indeed irrelevant to overturn a decision. Overturning must be based on an articulated proof that the decision was not in conformity with one or another fundamental principle upon which law rests. See Tcombining dot belowahcombining dot belowāwī, alShurūtcombining dot below al-scombining dot belowaghīr, II, 833;
154. Ibn Farhcombining dot belowūn, Tabscombining dot belowirat al-hukkām, I, 50-60;
155. Abū 'Abd Allāh Muhcombining dot belowammad al-Rascombining dot belowscombining dot belowā', Sharhcombining dot below hcombining dot belowudūd al-Imām Abī 'Abd Allāh Ibn 'Arafa (Rabat: Matcombining dot belowba'at Fadcombining dot belowāla, 1992), 626-7.
156. Cf. David Powers, 'On judicial review in Islamic law', Law and Society Review, 26, 1992, 315-41.
157. Nizām, al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, III, 346;
158. Ibn Abī al-Damm, Tanbīh al-hcombining dot belowukkām, 71;
159. The juristic discourse of all schools revolves around the basic positions adopted by Abū Hcombining dot belowanīfa, his two major disciples and Ibn Abī Laylā. Abū Hanīfa held that if the qādcombining dot belowī records his decision in the dīwān but later, upon further litigation, he forgets what he wrote, then he cannot proceed with the litigation on the basis of evidence established earlier. Ibn Abī Laylā and Abū Yūsuf disagreed with Abū Hcombining dot belowanīfa, arguing that his written record provides grounds for further litigation. Shaybānī's position is not entirely clear. See Abū Yūsuf, Ikhtilāf, 158-9.
160. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, al-Tcombining dot belowuruq al-hcombining dot belowukmiyya, 240;
161. al-Qaffāl al-Shāshī, Hucombining dot belowlyat al-'ulamā', VIII, 141.
162. Hallaq, ' Model shurütcombining dot below works', 113 ff.
163. VI, 160-248.
164. For instance, see VI, 164 (I. 11).
165. VI, 163, 164, 177, 182, 185, 190, 194-5, 201-2, 204, 216, 217, 218, 222, 223, 224, 227, 229, 231, 237, 238, 238-40, 247, and passim.
166. See also Hallaq, 'Model shurūtcombining dot below works', 122, n. 61.
167. In al-Fatāwā al-hindiyya, VI, 160 ff., for instance, the subject-matter included the following (in the order given): debts, marriage, dowry, alimony, divorce, paternity, manumission, theft, partnership (various types), waqf, property rights, homicide, qadhfi, inheritance, bequests, bank ruptcy, written communications between qādcombining dot belowīs, preemption, rent, gifts and pledge.
168. Akhbār qudcombining dot belowāt Miscombining dot belowr, 309-10.
169. Shihāb al-Dīn Muhcombining dot belowammad b. Hcombining dot belowajar al-'Asqalānī, Talkhīscombining dot below al-hcombining dot belowabīr fī takhrīj ahcombining dot belowādīth al-rāfi'ī al-kabīr, ed. 'Abd Allāh al-Madanī, 4 vols. (Madina: n.p., 1964), IV, 189.
170. Accepting the sixth decade of the Hijra (670s A.D.) as the beginning of recording sijillāt does not preclude the possibility that the practice may have been prc-Islamic. For it must have taken the prototypal Muslim qādcombining dot belowīs sometime before they could assimilate foreign elements.
171. Rabie, Financial system, 3-4.
172. Tanūkhī, Nishwār al-muhcombining dot belowādcombining dot belowara, II, 14, 15;
173. IV, 204;
174. VI, 72, 94, 171;
175. VIII, 151, and passim;
176. Ebied and Young, Some Arabic legal documents, 1.
177. In this court, many records consisted of loose leaves, especially those belonging to the periods of 1098-1127/1686-1715 and 1215-25/1800-10. See Khālid Ziyāda, 'Wathā'iq mahcombining dot belowkamat Tcombining dot belowarāblus al-shar'iyya ka-mascombining dot belowdar li'l-dirāsāt al-Islämiyya', in 'Abd al-Jalīl Tamīmī (Temimi), ed., al-Wilāyāt al-'arabiyya wa-mascombining dot belowādir wathā'iqihā fī 'l-'ahd al-'uthmānī (Les provinces arabes et leurs source documentaires à l'époque ottomane) (Tunis: Matcombining dot belowba'at al-Ittihcombining dot belowād al-'Amm, 1984), 228-9.
178. See section VI, above.
179. See his Histoire, 260;
180. idem, 'Judicial organization', 257. His interpretation, however, seems too sweeping. What 'Asqalānī's statement declares is that Ibn Abī al-'Awwām was the first to deposit his dawāwīn in the mosque. Tyan perhaps thought that Ibn Abī al-'Awwām transferred a collection of dīwāns belonging to him and to other qādcombining dot belowīs, but this interpretation is not borne out by the text. The same text also announces that other qādcombining dot belowīs kept their dīwāns in their residences. Furthermore, this attestation to the centralization of the dīwān-maintenance remains solitary and unique in our sources.
181. 'Asqalānī's account is found as an appendix to Kindī's Akhbār qudcombining dot belowāt Miscombining dot belowr, 612.
182. We should recall here that not all cases were copied down in the incoming qādcombining dot belowī's dīwān. Those which have become inconsequential because they are considered, for example, old (where all the concerned parties have died), would expectedly be left out. This practice has the important implication that the bulk of the dīwān's material did not grow cumulatively but was constantly subjected, at the stage of copying, to a measure of trimming. See section IV, above.
183. See section III, above.
184. And in certain areas, down to the present.