Fatawa 'Alamgiri, also known as Al-Fatawa al-'Alamgiriyya ( ar, الفتاوى العالمگيرية) or Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya ( ar, الفتاوى الهندية), is a 17th-century
sharia based compilation on statecraft, general ethics, military strategy, economic policy, justice and punishment, that served as the law and principal regulating body of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, during the reign of the
Mughal emperor
Muhammad Muhiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir.
[Jamal Malik (2008), Islam in South Asia: A Short History, Brill Academic, , pp. 194-197] It subsequently went on to become the reference legal text to enforce Sharia in colonial south Asia in the 18th century through early 20th century,
[David Arnold and Peter Robb, Institutions and Ideologies: A SOAS South Asia Reader, Psychology Press, pp. 171-176] and has been heralded as "the greatest digest of
Muslim law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
made in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
".
Outline
Fatawa-e-Alamgiri was the work of many prominent scholars from different parts of the world, including
Hejaz, principally from the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
school. In order to compile Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, emperor Aurangzeb gathered 500 experts in Islamic jurisprudence, 300 from
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, 100 from
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and 100 from the
Hejaz. Their years long work, resulted in an Islamic code of law for South Asia, in the late
Mughal Era
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
. It consists of legal code on personal, family, slaves, war, property, inter-religious relations, transaction, taxation, economic and other law for a range of possible situations and their juristic rulings by the
faqīh
A faqīh (plural ''fuqahā'', ar, فقيه, pl. ) is an Islamic jurist, an expert in ''fiqh'', or Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic Law.
Definition
Islamic jurisprudence or ''fiqh'' is the human understanding of the Sharia ( ...
of the time.
The collection comprises verses from the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, supplemented by
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
narratives, including those of
Sahih al-Bukhari,
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...
,
Sunan Abu Dawood and
Sahih at-Tirmidhi
Jami at-Tirmidhi ( ar, جامع الترمذي), also known as Sunan at-Tirmidhi, is one of " the six books" ('' Kutub al-Sittah'' - the six major hadith collections). It was collected by Al-Tirmidhi. He began compiling it after the year 250 A.H. ...
.
The Fatawa is notable for several reasons:
* It spanned 30 volumes originally in various languages, but is now printed in modern editions as 6 volumes
* It provided significant direct contribution to the economy of
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, particularly
Bengal Subah
The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Be ...
, waving the
proto-industrialization
Proto-industrialization is the regional development, alongside commercial agriculture, of rural handicraft production for external markets.
The term was introduced in the early 1970s by economic historians who argued that such developments in pa ...
.
* It served as the basis of judicial law throughout the Mughal Empire
* It created a legal system that treated people differently based on their religion
In substance similar to other
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
texts, the laws in Fatawa-i Alamgiri describe, among other things, the following:
Criminal and personal law
*Personal law for South Asian Muslims in the 18th century, their inheritance rights,
*Personal law on gifts,
*
Apostates
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
neither have nor leave inheritance rights after they are executed,
*The guardian of a Muslim girl may arrange her marriage with her consent,
*A Muslim boy of understanding, required the consent of his guardian to marry.
*Laws establishing the paternity of a child arising from valid or invalid Muslim marriages,
*A Muslim man with four wives must treat all of them justly, equally and each must come to his bed when he so demands,
*
Hudud punishments for the religious crime of
zina
''Zināʾ'' () or ''zinā'' ( or ) is an Islamic legal term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse. According to traditional jurisprudence, ''zina'' can include adultery, fornication, prostitution, rape, sodomy, incest, and bestiality. ' ...
(pre-marital, extra-marital sex) by free Muslims and non-Muslim slaves. It declared the punishment of flogging or stoning to death (
Rajm), depending on the status of the accused i.e. Stoning for a Married (Muhsin) person (free or unfree), and as for the non-Muhsin, a free person will get one hundred stripes and a slave will get fifty if they self confess.
Pillage and Slavery
*If two or more Muslims, or persons subject to Muslims, who enter a non-Muslim controlled territory for the purpose of pillage without the permission of the Imam, and thus seize some property of the inhabitants there, and bring it back into the Muslim territory, that property would be legally theirs.
*The right of Muslims to purchase and own
slaves,
*A Muslim man's right to have sex with a captive slave girl he owns.
*No inheritance rights for slaves,
*The testimony of all slaves was inadmissible in a court of law,
*Slaves require permission of the master before they can marry,
*An unmarried Muslim may marry a slave girl owned by another but a Muslim married to a Muslim woman may not marry a slave girl,
*Conditions under which the slaves may be emancipated partially or fully.
Office of Censor
The Fatwa-e-Alamgiri also formalized the legal principle of ''Muhtasib'', or office of censor that was already in use by previous rulers of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
.
[ Any publication or information could be declared as heresy, and its transmission made a crime.][ Officials (''kotwal'') were created to implement the Sharia doctrine of ]hisbah
''Hisbah'' ( ar, حسبة, ḥisba, "accountability")Sami Zubaida (2005), Law and Power in the Islamic World, , pages 58-60 is an Islamic doctrine referring to upholding "community morals", based on the Quranic injunction to " enjoin good and fo ...
.[ The offices and administrative structure created by Fatawa-e-Alamgiri aimed at Islamisation of South Asia.][
]
Development
The Fatawa-e-Alamgiri (also spelled Fatawa al-Alamgiriyya) was compiled in the late 17th century, by 500 Muslim scholars from Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
, Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
and in the Indian Subcontinent, in Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
(India) and Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
(Pakistan), led by Sheikh Nizam Burhanpuri.[M. Reza Pirbhai (2009), Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context, Brill Academic, , pp. 131-154] It was a creative application of Islamic law within the Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
fiqh.[ It restricted the powers of Muslim judiciary and the Islamic jurists ability to issue discretionary fatwas.][
As the power shifted from Muslim rulers in India to the ]British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
, the colonial authorities decided to retain local institutions and laws, to operate under traditional pre-colonial laws instead of introducing secular European common law system.[ Fatawa-i Alamgiri, as the documented Islamic law book, became the foundation of legal system of India during Aurangzeb and later Muslim rulers. Further, the English-speaking judges relied on Muslim law specialist elites to establish the law of the land, because the original Fatawa-i Alamgiri (Al-Hindiya) was written in Arabic. This created a social class of Islamic gentry that zealously guarded their expertise, legal authority and autonomy. It also led to inconsistent interpretation-driven, variegated judgments in similar legal cases, an issue that troubled British colonial officials.][
The assumption of the colonial government was that the presumed local traditional sharia-based law, as interpreted from Fatawa-i Alamgiri, could be implemented through ]common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
-style law institution with integrity.[ However, this assumption unravelled in the 2nd half of the 19th century, because of inconsistencies and internal contradictions within Fatawa-i Alamgiri, as well as because the Aurangzeb-sponsored document was based on Hanafi Sunni sharia. Shia Muslims were in conflict with Sunni Muslims of South Asia, as were other minority sects of Islam, and they questioned the applicability of Fatawa-i Alamgiri.][ Further, Hindus did not accept the Hanafi sharia-based code of law in Fatawa-i Alamgiri. Thirdly, the belief of the colonial government in "legal precedent" came into conflict with the disregard for "legal precedent" in the Anglo-Muhammadan legal system which emerged during the Company period, leading colonial officials to distrust the Maulavis (Muslim religious scholars). The colonial administration responded by creating a bureaucracy that created separate laws for Muslim sects, and non-Muslims such as Hindus in South Asia.][ This bureaucracy relied on Fatawa-i Alamgiri to formulate and enact a series of separate religious laws for Muslims and common laws for non-Muslims (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs), most of which were adopted in independent India after 1947.][J. Duncan Derrett (1999), Religion, Law and State in India, Oxford University Press, ]
The British tried to sponsor translations of Fatawa-i Alamgiri. In the late 18th century, at the insistence of the British, the al-Hidaya was translated from Arabic to Persian. Charles Hamilton and William Jones translated parts of the document along with other sharia-related documents in English. These translations triggered a decline in the power and role of the Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
s in colonial India. Neil Baillie published another translation, relying on Fatawa-i Alamgiri among other documents, in 1865, as ''A Digest of Mohummudan Law''.[ In 1873, Sircar published another English compilation of Muhammadan Law that included English translation of numerous sections of Fatawa-i Alamgiri. These texts became the references that shaped law and jurisprudence in colonial India in late 19th and the first half of the 20th century, many of which continued in post-colonial ]India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.[
]
Contemporary comments
Burton Stein
Burton Stein (1926 – April 26, 1996) was an American historian, whose area of specialization was India.
Life and career
Stein was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and served in the Second World War, before commencing tertiary study at the ...
states that the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri represented a re-establishment of Muslim ''ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
'' prominence in the political and administrative structure that had been previously lost by Muslim elites and people during Mughal Emperor Akbar's time. It reformulated legal principles to expand Islam and Muslim society by creating a new, expanded code of Islamic law.[Burton Stein (2010), A History of India, John Wiley & Sons, , pp. 177-178]
Some modern historians have written that British efforts to translate and implement Sharia from documents such as the Fatawa-e Alamgiri had a lasting legal legacy during and in post-independence India (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).
According to Jamal Malik, the document stiffened the social stratification among Muslims and broke from the consensus of Hanafi Law. He argues certain punishments reified the established categories: it introduced that Muslim nobles such as ''Sayyids'' were exempt from physical punishments, the governors and landholders could be humiliated but not arrested nor physically punished, the middle class could be humiliated and put into prison but not physically punished, while the lowest class commoners could be arrested, humiliated and physically punished. The emperor was granted powers to issue ''farmans'' (legal doctrine) that overruled fatwas of Islamic jurists.[
]Mona Siddiqui
Mona Siddiqui (born 3 May 1963) is a British academic. She is Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh, a member of the Commission on Scottish Devolution and a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. ...
notes that while the text is called a ''fatawa'', it is actually not a fatwa nor a collection of fatwas from Aurangzeb's time.[ It is a ''mabsūts'' style, ''furu al-fiqh''-genre Islamic text, one that compiles many statements and refers back to earlier ]Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
sharia texts as justification. The text considers contract not as a written document between two parties, but an ''oral'' agreement, in some cases such as marriage, one in the presence of witnesses.[M Siddiqui (2012), The Good Muslim: Reflections on Classical Islamic Law and Theology, Cambridge University Press, , pp 12-16]
Translation
In 1892, Bengali scholar Naimuddin published a four-volume Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...
translation of the ''Fatawa ʿAlamgiri'' with the assistance of Wajed Ali Khan Panni
Wajed Ali Khan Panni (also known as Chand Mian; 14 November 1871 – 25 April 1936) was a Bengali politician, educationist and the zamindar of Karatia.
Early life
Panni was born into a Bengali Muslim family in Karatia Union, Karatia, Tangail D ...
and the patronage of Hafez Mahmud Ali Khan Panni, the Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
of Karatia. Kafilur Rahman Nishat Usmani, a Deobandi jurist translated the ''Fatawa 'Alamgiri'' into Urdu language.
See also
References
Notes
: However Hadd
''Hudud'' (Arabic: ''Ḥudūd'', also transliterated ''hadud'', ''hudood''; plural of ''hadd'', ) is an Arabic word meaning "borders, boundaries, limits". In the religion of Islam it refers to punishments that under Islamic law (sharīʿah) are ...
(scripturally proscribed) punishments applied to all subjects regardless of status and could not be modified by the Judge.[Hakeem, Farrukh B. "From Sharia to Mens rea: Legal transition to the Raj." International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 22, no. 2 (1998): 211-224.]
Citations
Further reading
* , English translation of numerous sections of Fatawa i Alamgiri (Translator: SC Sircar, Tagore Professor of Law, Calcutta, 1873)
* Sheikh Nizam, al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 6 vols, Beirut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi, 3rd Edition, (1980)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatawa-E-Alamgiri
Books about Islamic jurisprudence
Hanafi literature
Sharia
Mughal royal books
Legal history of India
Legal history of Pakistan
Legal codes
17th-century Indian books
Sunni literature
Islamic literature
Indian non-fiction books
Indian religious texts
Historiography of India