Ahmed Akgunduz's Books

Islamic Private Law

Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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Islamic Private Law

Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

There is no explicit separation in Islâmic law between public and private law, but a special system has been used throughout history. Some scholars use the term Muslim personal law, which derived from the term al-aḥwâl al-shaḫṣiyyah in Fiqh books. But we prefer Islâmic private law; because Muslim personal law indicates different legal meaning – rules governing natural and legal persons. In this book, we will elaborate on Islâmic rules relating to seven branches of private law: personal law, family law, inheritance law, obligations and contracts’ law, property law, commercial law, and international private law. We will explain or summarize Islâmic rules in this book, rather than my (the author’s) personal views. Unfortunately, there is a misunderstanding in Western countries: if any Muslim scholar writes an article or book or grants an interview to a journalist to explain Islâmic rules on any issue, most Westerners, and especially people ignorant of Islâmic Law attribute these views to this scholar and holds him or her accountable. For example, a Dutch journalist came to see me and asked about the issue of beating women in the Qur’an, I explained the verse in the Qur’an and some interpretations by the Prophet Muhammed and Muslim jurists. The journalist did not understand what I explained, and many people have accused me of advising Muslims to beat their women. This is absolutely false. This is why we have to explain the following points. The first point is this: All the regulations in Islâmic law are divided into two groups with respect to to legal authority. First, rules that were based directly on the Qur’an and the Sunnah and codified in books on Fiqh (Islâmic Law) are called Sharî‘ah rules, Shar‘-i Sharîf, or Sharî‘ah law; these rules constitute 85% of the legal system. The exclusive sources of these rules are the Qur’an, the consensus of Muslim jurists, and true analogy (qiyâs). All explanations of these rules based completely on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. If any Muslim scholar writes an article on ‘beating women’ or ‘polygamy,’ he is responsible only for his/her interpretations. Could any scholar be responsible for the religious ideology that he/she explains? Are his/her explanations to be considered propaganda for that religion or ideology? Absolutly not. Western authorities, politicians and journalists should know that Muslims hold that every machine has a manual. If the manual is not followed when the machine is being used or operated, it will break. Allah sent the Qur’an as the manual for human beings. If a society does not take the Qur’an as its guide, it is destined to have the same fate as a machine that is operated without the manual. This is a basic creed for Muslims. A Muslim cannot disagree with a explicit verse of the Qur’an. Second, financial law, land law, ta‘zîr penalties, arrangements concerning military law and administrative law in particular were based on the restricted legislative authority vested by Sharî‘ah decrees and those jurisprudential decrees that were founded on secondary sources such as customs and traditions and the public good, which fell under public law, al-Siyâsah al-Shar‘iyyah (Sharî‘ah policies), Qânûn (Legal Code), and the like. Since these could not exceed the limits of Sharî‘ah principles either, they should not be viewed as a legal system outside of Islâmic Law. The second point is that another classification of the Islâmic rules should be explained. Many Muslims and non-Muslims think that all injunctions in Islâmic Law, such as polygamy and slavery, were established by the Qur’an or the Sunnah directly, and Islâmic Law has been criticized severely for this. The supposition here is false. A further point that causes confusion is the view that there was no slavery, male or female, before Islâm and that Islâm introduced it. There are, however, two kinds of injunctions in Islâmic law. 1) The first are injunctions that were laid down by Islâm as principles for the first time since they did not exist in previous legal systems. Islâm established these principles, such as zakâh, waqf(endowments) and inheritance shares. Muslim scholars state that these are completely beneficial for humankind as a whole. They also contain many instances of wisdom and purpose, even if people are not aware of them. 2) The second are injunctions that Islâm did not introduce; they already existed and Islâm modified them. That is, Islâm was not the first to set them down; rather, they were part of the law systems of other societies and were applied in a savage form. Since it would have been contrary to human nature to abolish injunctions of this kind suddenly and completely, Islâmic Law modified them so that they were no longer barbaric but civilized. Slavery and polygamy are good examples of this.[2] My third point is that I have explained theoretical rules of Islâmic Law in this book, but have not neglected the practice aspect of Islâmic private law. We have focused on the practice of the Ottoman State for Sharî‘ah especially because the Ottoman State practiced Islâmic Law completely, and we have archival documents proving this claim. The study of Shar‘iyyah Records (Shari‘iyyah Sijilleri) proves that in the Ottoman State Sharî‘ah rules were taken as the basis for personal law, family law, inheritance law, jus obligationum, law of commodities, commercial law, and all the branches of private law with respect to international private law. The analysis of the two essential sources of information regarding Ottoman law, viz. legal codices and Shar‘iyyah Records, leads to the following irrefutable conclusion: the Ottoman legislative authorities only and solely codified administrative law, with the exception of various subjects of constitutional law, property law, laws regarding state land, military law, financial law, ta‘zîr(punishment by way of reproof), crimes in criminal law and their penalties and decrees regarding some exceptional issues of private law. In issuing decrees on these it codified Sharî‘ah principles – if any – since matters transferred to the rulers’ arrangements would be made in consideration of such secondary sources as the public good, customs, and traditions. Because it could never be alleged that a state’s legal system consisted solely in the above-mentioned subjects, it could also not be claimed that the stated issues were arranged in disregard of Shar‘-i Sharîf. The explanations below will clarify this matter.[3] The fourth point is that contemporary Islâmic codes from different Muslim countries were not negleced. I have sometimes looked at the Morroccan Family Code (al-Mudawwana),[4] Egyptian laws that are the root of Muslim Middle Eastern countries’ legal systems, Pakistan’s law code which was based on the Ḥanafî Law School. We could say that in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, the effects of Ottoman legal codes, like Majallah and family law continue. The fifth point is as follows. This book is based principally in the Ḥanafî School and Ottoman practice. Nonetheless, comparisons with other schools have been made, especially with the Mâlikî School, which is the official school in Morrocco, the United Arab Emirates, and some other countries, the Shâfi‘î School, which is the official school in Indonesia and some other countries, the Ḥanbalî School, the official school in Saudi Arabia, and some other countries, and finally the Ja’farî School, which is the official school especially in Iran. For comparison between schools, this work has benefitted from some major works on Islâmic law. These works include: M. Zarqa, Al-Fıqh al-İslâmî Fî Thawbih al-Jadîd, c. I-II, Dimaşk 1395/1975; ‘abd al-Rahman al-Jaziri, Al-Fiqh ‘ala al-maḏâhib al-arba‘a, Cairo, 1969; Al-Shahid al Thani (Zayn al-Din Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali al–Jab’i al-‘Amili [d. 965/1558]), Al-Rawdat al-bahiyya fi sharh al-lum‘at al-Dimashqiyya, Beirut, 1967; Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Qudâmah al-M’aqdisî, Al-Muqni‘, Cairo, 2005; Ḫalil bin Isḥaq, Al-Tawdîh Sharhu Muḫtasar ibn al-Hâjib, Casablanca, 2012. Some comparative works have also been of benefit. These include: Imran Ahsan Ḫan Nyazee, Outlines of Muslim Personal Law, Advanced Legal Studies Institute, Islâmabad, Pakistan, 2011; Chibli Malla, “Identity and Community Rights Islâmic Family Law: Variations on State,” in Islâmic Family Law, edited by Chibli Mallat & Jane Connors, Graham & Trotman Limited, London 1993; Ahmad Nasir, The Status of Women under Islâmic Law and Modern Islâmic Legislation, Brill, Leiden and An Introduction to the Law of Obligations of Afghanistan, edited by Trevor Kempner, Andrew Lawrence, and Ryan Nelson, Stanford Law School, (PDF). We should not forget some official or semi-official legal codes in Muslim countries that are completely based on Sharî‘ah. For example, Muḥammad Qadri Pasha’a (1306/1889), Murshid al-Hayrân (Guide for the Perplexed), which consists of 1,045 articles; Al-‘Adl Wal Insâf Fi Hall Mushkilât al-Awqâf (Justice and Equity in Solving the Problems of Endowments), which consists of 343 articles; and Al-Aḥkâm al-Shar‘iyyah Fi al-Aḥwâl al-Shaḫṣiyyah (Legal Rulings on Personal Status Law), which consists of 647 articles; Morroccan Family Law (Mudawwanah); The Egyptian Civil Code was written in 1949, whose primary author was Abdel-Razzak al-Sanhuri, who was assisted by Dean Edouard Lambert of the University of Lille; The Egyptian Civil Code has been the source of law and inspiration for numerous other Middle Eastern jurisdictions, including the pre-dictatorship kingdoms of Libya, Jordan, and Iraq (both drafted by Al-Sanhuri himself and a team of native jurists under his guidance), Bahrain, as well as Qatar (the last two merely inspired by his notions) and the commercial code of Kuwait (drafted by Al-Sanhuri); Pakistan Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961. This book is divided into seven chapters: 1) personal law, 2) family law, 3) inheritance law, 4) obligations and contract Law, 5) property law, 6) commercial law, 7) international private law. We repeat again that we have preferred to write what Muslim jurists (fuqahâ) have argued is how the Qur’an and the Sunnah should be interpreted. Our success will be measured by our ability to correctly reproduce what existed in Islâmic sources. Every human enterprises falls short; we are ready to perfect our study with the help of contributions by readers and constructive criticism. I would like to thank all those who read this book and contribute constructively to it. I am thankful to God Who enabled me to complete this book.

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9491898116

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Islamic Public Law - Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

Documents on Practice from the Ottoman Archives

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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Islamic Public Law - Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

Documents on Practice from the Ottoman Archives

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

“Islamic law contains explications and divisions that imply a classification in terms of public and private law. In this book we will explain the outlines of Islamic public law, e.g. First Chapter; Islamic constitutional law (al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah) and administrative law (al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah); Second Chapter; penal law (al-̒uqūbāt); Third Chapter; financial law (zakāt, ʻushr, ḫarāj and other taxes); Fourth Chapter; trial law (qaḍā), and Fifth Chapter: international public law (al-siyar). The fields of especially Islamic constitutional law, administrative law, financial law, ta‘zīr penalties, and arrangements concerning military law based on the restricted legislative authority vested by Sharī‘ah rules and those jurisprudential decrees based on secondary sources like customs and traditions and the public good (maslahah) all fell under what was variously called public law, al-siyāsah al-shar‘iyyah (Sharī‘ah policy), qānūn (legal code), qānūnnāmah, ‘orfī ḥuqūq etc. Since these laws could not go beyond Sharī‘ah principles either, at least in theory, they should not be regarded as a legal system outside of Islamic law. But Islamic penal law, financial law, trial law, and international law depend mostly on rules that are based directly on the Qur’an and the Sunnah and codified in books of fiqh (Islamic law) called Sharī‘ah rules, Sharʻ-i sharīf, or Sharī‘ah law. Such rules formed 85% of the legal system. In this book, we will focus on some controversial problems in the Muslim world today, such as the form of government in Islamic law and the relation between Islam and democracy. Islamic law does not stipulate a certain method of state government; nonetheless, we may say that the principles it decrees and its concept of sovereignty suggest a religious republic. As a matter of fact, Ḫulafā al-Rāshidūn (the Rightly Guided Caliphs), were both caliphs and religious republican presidents. We could say that this book has three main characteristics. i) We have tried to base our explanations directly on the primary Islamic law sources. For example, after reading some articles on the caliphate or tīmār system in articles or books by some Western scholars and even by some Muslim scholars, one might conclude that there are different views on these subjects among Muslim scholars. This is not true: Muslisms have agreed on the basic rules on legal subjects, but there are some conflicts regarding nuances and interpretations. If one reads works by Imām Gazzali, Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Māwardi, and al-Farrā’, one will not find any disagreement on the main rules, but there are some different interpretations of some concepts. We have tried to discover where they agreed and we have sometimes pointed to where they differed. ii) We have researched practices of Islamic law, especially legal documents in the Ottoman archives. For example, we explain ḥadd-i sariqa but also mention some legal articles from the Ottoman legal codes (qānunnāmes) and some Sharī‘ah court decisions like legal decrees (i‘lāmāt-i shar‘iyyah). It is well known that nobody can understand any legal system without implementing and practicing it. That also holds for Islamic law because theory alone does not yield a complete understanding of Sharī‘ah rules. iii) We have worked hard to correct some misconceptions and misunderstandings about Islamic law. That is why we appeal to the primary sources. For example, some scholars claim that the Ḥanafī jurist Imām Saraḫsī did not accept the idea of punishment for apostasy. We have studied his work al-Mabsūt and found this claim to be unfounded. The comparison between tīmār and fief is another example because the tīmār system is different from the fief system. Some scholars confuse the concept of sovereignty and governance. The Islamic state is not a theocratic state in the sense in which Europeans understand the term.”

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717

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9081726439

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9789081726436

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

By: Ahmed Akgunduz,Said Ozturk

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Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

By: Ahmed Akgunduz,Said Ozturk

This book was first published in Turkish under the title Bilinmeyen Osmanlı, co-authored by Prof. Dr. Said Öztürk, and 250,000 copies were printed. I answered 290 questions whereas Öztürk answered 13 in total. He collaborated regarding source details and references as well as tirelessly proofreading and editing the book. In addition, this book was later translated into Arabic; the first edition was published by Osmanlı Araştirmalari Vakfi (OSAV), Istanbul, and the second will be published by Dār al-Shouroq in Cairo. The English version of this book has almost become a separate work from the aforementioned versions. Although the main part was translated into English by Ismail Ercan, the book needed a number of improvements and rewriting of some articles after referring to Western sources on the various subjects. Hence, I changed the title as well as the format of the book mainly for this reason. But I have indicated which articles were written by Prof. Öztürk. As preparation for this book, the questions it deals with have been discussed in academic research ever since 1983, and, in addition, hundreds of conferences have been held throughout Anatolia. As a result, over 5000 questions have accumulated in our “question desk,” submitted in written form by both readers and listeners. For example, the issue of ḥarem comes first, with 503 questions. The issue of whether the Ottoman Sulṭāns, particularly Bayezid the Thunderbolt, drank alcohol ranked second, with 276 questions. These were followed by such questions as fratricide rights and freedoms in the Ottoman state, the issue of the Sulṭāns going on pilgrimage, if Sulṭān Waḥīduddin was a traitor, etc. Needless to say, we have been inspired by similar research done in this field. This book will consist of four parts. In Part One we will deal with weighty questions on the political history of the Ottoman state and the replies to them. However, such questions are most frequently asked about each Sulṭān – even if they are related to law or economics. For instance, we will not ignore the issue of fratricide in his law when discussing Meḥmed the Conqueror and the charges of the genocide of the Kurds when it comes to Selim the Excellent. In Part Two we will deal with the questions on social life in the Ottoman state and the ḥarem. In Part Three we will look at those issues regarding the Ottoman legislative system and the organization of the state. In Part Four we will answer some questions about the economy and financial law of the Ottoman state. Unfortunately, we will not deal with all the questions we have received in all the aforesaid fields owing to insufficient space. Yet it is our view that if something cannot be achieved completely, we should not give up entirely and resign ourselves to what has been done. There are 307 differents subjects in this book; some of them as below: - War (jihād) in the Ottoman state and the legal principles of the policy of conquest in the Ottoman state - The Devşirme (Conscription) System - The allegations that the Ottoman state adhered to the Bektaşi and Aleviyye traditions during the years of its foundation until Sulṭān Selim the Excellent and that the Abdalan-ı Rum consisted of Bektaşi Babas and Alevi Dedes. - On rumors that some Ottoman Sulṭāns were addicted to alcohol and even held illegitimate carousals at the Palace. - The legality of fratricide in the Ottoman state and some claims by some historians regarding savagery and massacre for the sake of claiming the Sultanat. - There are claims that Sulṭān Meḥmed the Conqueror was sympathetic toward Christianity and corresponded with the Pope. - On the Ottoman State offering assistance to the Andalusian state that was destroyed in 1492. - Ottoman Harem. - Ottoman legal codes. - Ottoman legal system and Islamic law. - Which events sowed the seeds of hatred between Arabs and Turks, both of whom are Muslims? - The reasons for the decline and fall of the Ottoman State. - The capitulations as one reason for terminating the Ottoman State.

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9090261087

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9789090261089

Ottoman Harem

The Male and Female Slavery in Islamic Law

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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Ottoman Harem

The Male and Female Slavery in Islamic Law

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

Thirty years ago, we have published The Ottoman Harem in Turkish and I have given a copy to Şükran Vahide (Mary Weld) to evaluate and to translate to English. She has translator the Risâle-i Nur Collection completely and is a native in English. When she had completed the translation, she told me “Dr. Akgunduz! I have enjoyed translating this book and I think that this book is very important in historical and religious sense.” I have spent five years preparing this work Male and Female Slavery in Islam and the Ottoman Ḫarem. The product of those five years’ work has now been published in English. The subjects discussed in this book are as follows: Part One; the distortions and misrepresentations of male and female slavery and the Ḫarem, together with some examples. Part Two; male and female slavery in non-Muslim societies and in other religions. Part Three; the institutions of male and female slavery in Islamic law. Part Four; aspects of the practice of slavery, male and female, in the Ottoman state. Part Five; an investigation of the question: what is the Ḫarem? Part Six; a lady governess’s memoirs of the Ḫarem. Part Seven; the replies to a number of important questions on these subjects. My request of readers is that they read the sections they are interested in, and particularly that they study Parts One, Five, and Seven. I realize that Part Two is a slight digression, but I am of the opinion that the comparison is necessary in order to illuminate slavery in Islam and in the Ottoman state. “Ahmed Cevdet Pasha says: “To own slaves in Islam is to be a slave.” What should be realized here is that Islam did not introduce slavery. So how was slavery practised in other societies and religions? How did other religions and peoples act towards slaves? Since “Everything is known through it opposites,” it is essential to know this in order to understand male and female slavery in Islamic law and the Ḫarem in Ottoman society. The women in the Sultan’s Ḫarem lived under very strict discipline. They lived an enclosed life in their apartments, just as they paid great attention to these matters when they were out on trips or travelling. Since it was thus, does it conform to historical fact to show them to be immodest and overly free and easy, as in the films made recently? Does this reflect history as it was lived or is it make-belief? This should be pondered over fairly and reasonably.”

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363

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949189806X

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9789491898068

The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

This important academic work is the necessary fruit of our academic efforts, which we have been carrying out for nearly 10 years, to revise the four main books of the Risāla-i Nūr Collection, The Words, The Rays, The Flashes and The Letters of Bedīuzzaman, and to explain important academic terms with glosses. The first two of these works are now in print and have attracted considerable interest in scholarly circles. Upon requests, we have found it appropriate to publish these terms, which are essential for the understanding of the Risāla-i Nūr Collection, as a separate book.

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488

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9491898388

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9789491898389

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

By: Islamic University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam,Ahmed Akgunduz,Ahmet Ilker Kuzlu,Osman Celil Ziylan

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Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

By: Islamic University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam,Ahmed Akgunduz,Ahmet Ilker Kuzlu,Osman Celil Ziylan

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions. This work in your hand will explain these verses and hadiths and explain the return of Jesus (a.s) to the earth on the basis of Islam.

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140

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9491898310

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9789491898310

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

By: Ahmed Akgunduz,Said Ozturk

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Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

By: Ahmed Akgunduz,Said Ozturk

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694

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Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

By: Islamic University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam,Ahmed Akgunduz,Ahmet Ilker Kuzlu,Osman Celil Ziylan

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Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

By: Islamic University of Applied Sciences Rotterdam,Ahmed Akgunduz,Ahmet Ilker Kuzlu,Osman Celil Ziylan

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The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

By: Ahmed Akgunduz

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Book's by Ahmed Akgunduz

Islamic Private Law

Islamic Private Law

Islamic Public Law - Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

Islamic Public Law - Islamic Law in Theory and Practice

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

Ottoman Harem

Ottoman Harem

The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

Christianity will either fade away or be stripped of superstition and distortions

The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

The Terms of Risala-i Nur Collection

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