Legal Knowledge and Local Practices under the Early ʿAbbāsids

In this article, I investigate the way Muslims living in major Abbasid cities represented themselves when it came to legal matters. Was there any sort of legal identity evident between one place and another? To answer this question, I propose to focus the connection between the local urban elite and the government. I seek to investigate the role that the urban elite in several Iraqi and Egyptian cities played in selecting and appointing the qāḍīs during the early Abbasid period (132-218/750-833). It appears that during the second half of the second/eighth century, appointments to the judiciary were the subject of strenuous competition between the local elite and the central government. The caliphate tried to increase its authority in the main provincial cities and reduce legal heterogeneity in the empire. The local learned elite resisted this policy in order to preserve its traditional power and local interests. The Abbasids had to negotiate, and the provincial elite succeeded in keeping some of its special prerogatives in the selection of qāḍīs for some time. In the third/ninth century, however, the reinforcement of caliphal authority and the evolution of political structures resulted in a definitive marginalisation of the local elite

Al-Ahwāz

Le document joint propose la version française de l'article "Al-Ahwāz" publié en anglais dans The Encyclopedia of Islam, Third Edition, 2009-2, p. 65-67.International audienceAl-Ahwāz, principal city of Khūzistān (a province of southwestern Persia), is situated on both sides of the Kārūn River. The city flourished during the first four centuries of Islam (seventh to tenth centuries) as a centre of road and river trade.Al-Ahwāz, principale ville du Khūzistān (province de la Perse méridionale), est implantée sur les deux rives de la rivière Kārūn. La ville se développa au cours des quatre premiers siècles de l'hégire (VIIe-Xe siècle) et devint un important carrefour du commerce terrestre et fluvial

Courts

This encyclopedia entry is about the relationships between judges and rulers in Medieval Islam. In early Islam, the qadi was no more than a legal official under the ruler's supreme judicial power. Between the eighth and the tenth centuries, as Islamic law developed into a specific field governed by legal scholars, the qadis were increasingly identified with a religious jurisdiction that necessarily had to escape from under the authority of the ruler. Therefore, two sets of judicial institutions developed, which came to complement and sometimes compete with each other. For a ruler who needed to govern according to the public interest, to ensure security beyond the prescriptions of the Shari'ah, or simply to serve state interests, it was necessary to rely on institutions that were not bound by the strict prescriptions of Islamic law and could be monitored more easily

Scribes et enquêteurs. Note sur le personnel judiciaire en Égypte aux quatre premiers siècles de l'hégire

Cet article a été rédigé dans le cadre d'un projet Marie Curie financé par la Commission Européenne.International audienceThis article undertakes first a reconstruction of lists of legal scribes (kātibs) and investigators (sāḥibs al-masāʾil) active in Fustāt ̣between the 1st/early 8th and the 4th/10th century. Identification of these people allows a better understanding of the recruitment of Egyptian judiciary staff. Their reputations as scholars, as well as their ethnical, geographical and tribal origins, show that legal careers were limited by social barriers for a long time. Up until the 3rd/9th century, the office of scribe was mostly held by mawālī--high-ranking clients could possibly aspire to the office of investigator--, whereas qāḍīs were recruited among Arabs. The partitioning of the judiciary reveals a complex social hierarchy beyond the mere distinction between Arabs and non-Arabs. The results of this study also allow a re-evaluation of the Abbasid revolution's impact on Egyptian society.Cet article entreprend dans un premier temps de reconstituer des listes de scribes (kātib-s) et d'enquêteurs judiciaires (ṣāḥib-s al-masā'il-s) actifs à Fusṭāṭ entre le Ier/début VIIIe et le IVe/Xe siècle. L'identification de ces personnages permet, dans un second temps, de mieux comprendre le recrutement du personnel judiciaire égyptien. Leur réputation en tant que savants, ainsi que leur origine ethnique, géographique et tribale, montrent que la carrière judiciaire fut longtemps limitée par des barrières sociales. Jusqu'au IIIe/IXe siècle, les fonctions de scribe revinrent le plus souvent à des mawālī, les plus élevés d'entre eux pouvant éventuellement briguer le poste d'enquêteur, tandis que les cadis étaient arabes. Le cloisonnement de la judicature révèle ainsi une hiérarchie sociale complexe, allant au-delà de la distinction entre Arabes et non-Arabes. Les résultats de cette étude permettent accessoirement de réévaluer l'impact de la révolution abbasside sur la société égyptienne

Le règne du calife Ḥasan bar ʿAlī d'après une source syriaque

Billet publié dans Les carnets de l'Ifpo : http://ifpo.hypotheses.org/5489In his Historia Monastica, the Syriac chronicler Thomas of Marga states that the East-Syrian catholicos Georges I (r. 661-681) was in office during the twenty-two years of al-Hasan b. 'Ali's reign, whereas Muslim sources consider that al-Hasan abdicated shortly after his father's death. Is Thomas of Marga just mistaken? In this short paper, I argue that his chronicle could reflect some early Shiʻi vision of the history of the caliphate.Dans son Histoire monastique, le chroniqueur syriaque Thomas de Marga affirme que le catholicos syro-oriental Georges Ier (r. 661-681) exerça ses fonctions pendant les vingt-deux années du règne du calife al-Hasan b. 'Ali, alors que les sources musulmanes considèrent qu'al-Hasan abdiqua peu après la mort de son père. Thomas de Marga commet-il ici une erreur grossière ? Dans ce court article, je propose que ce passage pourrait refléter une ancienne vision chiite de l'histoire du califat

DISPENSING JUSTICE IN A MINORITY CONTEXT: THE JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION OF UPPER EGYPT UNDER MUSLIM RULE IN THE EARLY EIGHTH CENTURY

International audienceThe early Islamic judicial system can be reconstructed from narrative texts that were definitively fixed either during the last quarter of the ninth century or the tenth century. Literature specialising in judicial history such as the semi-biographical genre of akhbār al-quḍāt assumed its definitive shape during the post-miḥna period, when the victory of Sunnism progressively imposed new political and institutional order. In this literature, qāḍīs appear as main representatives of Islamic law in a Muslim context while other religious groups remain underrepresented. However, documentary sources dating from earlier periods challenge this picture. Administrative papyri, originating mostly from Upper Egypt, describe judicial instances where provincial governors play a major role. Although these papyri paint an inconclusive picture of the early Islamic judicial system, they nevertheless offer illuminating insights about the actual judicial practice. In what follows, I shall examine excerpts from judicial letters of Qurra b. Sharīk, Umayyad governor of Egypt from 90/709 to 96/714. Although most of these letters were published decades ago, I believe they still merit a detailed contextual study within the historical framework of the Umayyad legal administration. The letters concern correspondence between Qurra and Basilios, pagarch of Aphroditō. Only letters addressed by Qurra to Basilios survive. Amongst the numerous papyri discovered in the early twentieth century, ten or so were of a " judiciary " nature, dealing with instructions from the governor to Basilios regarding lawsuits

Le cadi et le sauf-conduit (amān) : les enjeux juridiques de la diplomatie dans l'Orient abbasside

Les recherches présentées dans cet article ont pu être menées à bien grâce au soutien des Actions Marie Curie de l'Union Européenne.International audienceThe employment of jurists or qāḍī-s for diplomatic missions, in the first centuries of Islam, is still little understood. The case of the qāḍī Ibrāhīm b. al-Jarrāḥ, who took a part in the surrender of the Egyptian governor ʿUbayd Allāh b. al-Sarī b. al-Ḥakam in 211/826, sheds light on the diplomatic use of qāḍī-s. With their special knowledge of legal books and formulas, qāḍī-s were increasingly seen by rulers as important experts who could use law to constrain the power of political rivals.L'emploi de juristes ou de cadis pour des missions diplomatiques aux premiers siècles de l'islam ne fait jusqu'ici que l'objet d'explications partielles. Le cas du cadi Ibrāhīm b. al-Jarrāḥ, qui intervint en 211/826 pour négocier la reddition du gouverneur égyptien ʿUbayd Allāh b. al-Sarī b. al-Ḥakam, vient éclairer d'un jour nouveau l'instrumentalisation de la judicature à des fins diplomatiques. Il apparaît que leur maîtrise livresque du droit et des formules juridiques faisait des cadis des experts de plus en plus recherchés pour leur capacité à contraindre un pouvoir rival par la force du droit

Les réseaux judiciaires en Iraq à l'époque abbasside

Cet article examine la formation de réseaux épistolaires reliant entre elles les circonscriptions judiciaires du monde musulman, du VIIIe au Xe siècle ap. J.-C

The Qāḍīs of Fusṭāṭ-Miṣr under the Ṭūlūnids and the Ikhshīdids: the Judiciary and Egyptian Autonomy

International audienceThe second half of the third/ninth and the fourth/tenth centuries are of particular importance for the development of the judiciary in the central lands of the Abbasid caliphate. At the end of the mihna period and the victory of Sunnism under al-Mutawakkil (r. 232-247/847-861), the caliphate agreed not to interfere further within the legal sphere, thus allowing the principal schools of law to complete their development toward their classical structure. In Iraq, thanks to the growing independence of the legal sphere and to the political weakness of the caliphate, the qadis increased their judicial freedom. Meanwhile, the political situation in Egypt was very different. The provincial rulers and two successive dynasties, the Tulunids (254-292/868-905) and the Ikhshidids (323-358/935-969), profited from the weakness of the caliphate, and imposed their autonomy de facto. The role played by the judiciary in this process is still unclear, as is the impact of Egyptian autonomy on the development of the local judiciary. In this paper, I discuss the evolution of the relationship between the Egyptian governors and the judiciary, from the accession of Ahmad b. Tulun in 254/868 until the arrival of the Fatimids in 358/969. Several elements are taken into consideration: (1) The institutional links between political power and the judiciary: Who appointed the qadis? How were they selected? Did the government choose to rely on local scholars or did the qadis come from outside the province? (2) The financial connection between the governors and the qadis, which was not only symbolic of the delegation of power, but could also denote the submission of the judiciary to the government. (3) The daily interactions between the qadis and the governors. (4) The judicial practice of the qadis. (5) Their reputation. I study to what extent the judiciary and its control was a political issue for the Tulunids and the Ikhshidids, and how the efforts of these two dynasties to build an Egyptian autonomy had important consequences on the structure of the legal milieu