A Wedding Gone Wrong The Rather Worldly Woes of a Rather Wealthy Qādirī Sufi Shaykh. Two 18th Century Documents from the Ottoman Court Records of Ḥamā and Aleppo

Marco Salati

doi:10.30687/annor/2385-3042/2018/01/004

Abstract

A rather intricate legal case took place first in Ḥamā’s and then in Aleppo’s Ottoman Islamic courts around the middle of the 18th century. The setting, the social standing of the individuals involved, and the alleged circumstances of the case all contribute to make clear that this was not just another routine court case. Altogether, the two documents are a good example of the scope and quality of the information preserved in the archives of local courts and they both demonstrate the extent and modes of implementation of Islamic law in a specific Ottoman milieu. The long inventory of personal property in the Aleppo document gives us a good idea of the social status and affluence enjoyed by the plaintiff – a member of the Jīlānī/Qādirī family – and an interesting insight into material culture and what constituted wealth and affluence at the time.

Highlights

A rather intricate legal case took place first in Ḥamā’s and in Aleppo’s Ottoman Islamic courts around the middle of the 18th century
The long inventory of personal property in the Aleppo document gives us a good idea of the social status and affluence enjoyed by the plaintiff – a member of the Jīlānī/Qādirī family – and an interesting insight into material culture and what constituted wealth and affluence at the time
As said in the introductory notes, this short study relies heavily on documentation preserved in the Ottoman court records of Aleppo and Ḥamā.[62]

Summary

The Documents Translated

At the court of the noble Law and the assembly of the exalted religion in the city of Ḥamā the Protected, in the presence of the chief of the judges of Islam and eminence of the rulers of mankind, our lord and authority the judge, he who places his noble script here above,. [blank in the original], and shaykh ‘Abdallāh alḤamdūnī All of these are residents of the city of Ḥamā; their presence in Aleppo “the Protected” had been requested by an imperial command. In his claim [Isḥāq] said: “In the year 1145 [/1732-33] I concluded a marriage contract with sharīfa Ṣāliḥa, the daughter of shaykh ‘Abdallāh, who is the son of shaykh Jūdī. We asked him about this in the presence of the judge of the Sharī‘a [court] for the city of Ḥamā at the time, and he acknowledged being married to four free women but claimed to have divorced one of them, that her legally-prescribed waiting period had passed, and that his marriage with my daughter was valid. The pride of his noble peers, Muḥammad āghā, the Palace interpreter [...]

Analysis

The Setting

The Sources

Plaintiff and Defendants

The Imperial Officials

The Historical Significance of the Case