Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliyya
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- Editions
- Nur Muhammad, Karkhana Tijarat-i Kutub, Aram Bagh, Karachi
Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliyya (مجلة الأحكام العدلية; The Book of Judicial Rules) is an Ottoman legal code of civil transactions based on the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, drafted in 1286–1293 AH (1869–1876 CE) by a committee of scholars led by Ahmad Jawdat Pasha. It represents the first modern state codification of Islamic substantive civil law formulated in numbered legal articles.
Background and Composition
During the Ottoman Tanzimat era, judicial reorganization and the creation of statutory courts (al-mahakim al-nizamiyya) led to increased exposure to Western legal models and statutory formats. To provide judges and modern court officials with an accessible, standardized reference of Islamic jurisprudence that addressed contemporary commercial and civil transactions without abandoning Sharia principles, the Ottoman government commissioned the drafting of a civil code derived from the authoritative rulings of the Hanafi school.
A drafting committee was formed under the presidency of the Minister of Justice, Ahmad Jawdat Pasha, and convened at the Board of Judicial Ordinances (Diwan al-Ahkam al-Adliyya). The committee included notable jurists such as Ala al-Din Ibn Abidin, Muhammad Amin, and Ahmad Hilmi, with participation reported as eight drafting scholars. The drafting process spanned seven years, beginning around 1285–1286 AH (1869 CE) under Sultan Abdulaziz. Sections were submitted to the office of the Shaykh al-Islam for review, and an imperial decree (irada saniyya) ordering its formal implementation was issued on 26 Sha'ban 1293 AH (15 September 1876 CE).
Structure and Method
The Majalla comprises 1,851 concise articles divided into an introduction and sixteen thematic books (kutub):
- Introduction: Defines the science of jurisprudence and its branches in Article 1, followed by ninety-nine legal maxims (al-qawa'id al-kulliyya) presented sequentially from Article 2 to Article 100. These maxims were largely adapted from the legal compilation of Ibn Nujaym and supplemented with additional rules.
- Sixteen Books: Cover the spectrum of civil transactions and judicial procedures, beginning with the Book of Sales (Kitab al-Buyu') and concluding with the Book of Judiciary (Kitab al-Qada'). Each book is organized into chapters (abwab) and sections (fusu), and opens with a preliminary section defining its specific legal terminology (al-istilahat al-fiqhiyya).
In terms of methodology, the code selected trusted and single authoritative opinions from the Hanafi school that were deemed best suited to the needs of the era, formulating them in concise statutory language.
Commentaries and Legacy
The Majalla was widely adopted across the Ottoman Empire and its provinces, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Hijaz. It generated numerous commentaries in both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic, including:
- Durar al-Hukkam Sharh Majallat al-Ahkam by Ali Haydar, written in Turkish and translated into Arabic by Fahmi al-Husayni.
- Sharh al-Majalla by Muhammad Khalid al-Atasi, completed by his son Muhammad Tahir al-Atasi in six volumes.
- Sharh al-Majalla by the Lebanese jurist Salim Rustam Baz.
- Mir'at al-Majalla by Yusuf Asaf.
- Sharh Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliyya by Muhammad Sa'id al-Mahasini in three volumes.
- Dedicated commentaries on its legal maxims, most notably Sharh al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyya by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Zarqa (d. 1357 AH), later edited and classified by his son Mustafa al-Zarqa.
Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Majalla was repealed in Turkey in 1926 CE and replaced by the Swiss Civil Code. In the post-Ottoman Arab states, it remained in force for extended periods—such as in Jordan until 1976 CE and parts of Lebanon, Palestine, and Cyprus—and its provisions and opening legal maxims served as foundational material for subsequent modern civil codes in countries such as Iraq, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
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