Majjallat Al-Ahkam Al-‘Adliyyah: Position and Influence on the Development of Fiqh

Abstract

The establishment of Majjallat al-Ahkam al-'Adliyyah as the first qanun in Turkey was a new breakthrough in the development of Islamic law during the Ottoman period. The authority of Islamic law, which was previously in the hands of the ulama, had shifted to the rulers. The diversity of laws that existed had merged into uniformity in their implementation. This research will examine the style and scope of the content of Majjallat al-Ahkam al-'Adliyyah, its position in the development of Fiqh, and the influence of the Majallah in Islamic countries. This research is a literature study, with Majjallat al-Ahkam al-'Adliyyah as the main data source. The results show that the Majallah is a civil law whose material is taken from the Hanafi school, containing discussions only about muamalah law, and its writing is accompanied by numbering, similar to modern legislation. The emergence of the Majallah is considered a new period in the development of fiqh, where there has been a shift from the period of taqlid towards efforts of ijtihad among scholars. The Majallah gave birth to the pattern of collective ijtihad and became the law of the state. The Majallah has encouraged several Islamic countries to design laws by referring to the pattern of the Majallah.