Of Judges and Jurists

Abstract

With the evolution and expansion of multiple legal institutions, litigants, former litigants, and future litigants had the opportunity to pursue many possible legal paths in British India. This chapter is the first of two that follow law’s travels, contests, and interactions across these multiple fora. The discussion focuses on the movement of litigants and their adversaries from the courtrooms of British India to other legal arenas as they engaged in forum-shopping and brought questions about legal outcomes to Islamic legal experts (muftis). Was the judge’s interpretation correct? Did he get Islamic law “right”? Was his determination appropriate for how pious Muslims should act in this context? Ordinary Muslims frequently presented these questions to muftis, as they worked to resolve their legal disputes in the context of an evolving and increasingly complex legal colonial system. These questions reflected litigants’ (and their adversaries’) understandings of how the colonial legal system was supposed to work; demonstrated their own knowledge about Islamic law and its interpretation; and revealed that a successful legal outcome often meant having the judge rule in your favor and making sure that the ruling fit with Islam.