Continuity And Transformation In Islamic Law

Episode 441with Heather Fergusonhosted by Zoe GriffithDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudIn this episode, historian Heather Ferguson takes us behind the scenes of early modern Ottoman state-making with a discussion of her recent book The Proper Order of Things. We discuss how the architecture of Topkapı palace, the emergence of new bureaucratic practices, and the administration of space from Hungary to Lebanon projected early modern discourses of “order” that were crucial to imperial legitimacy, governance, and dissent. Heather also offers rare insights into the challenges, vulnerabilities, and victories of transforming a dissertation into a prize-winning book manuscript. « Click for More »

Bölüm 437 Leyla Kayhan Elbirlik Sunucu Can Gümüş Podcast'i indirFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudOsmanlı'da çiftler nasıl evlenir, nasıl boşanırdı? Bu podcast'te Leyla Kayhan Elbirlik ile İstanbul Bab, Davud Paşa ve Ahi Çelebi mahkemelerinin 1755-1840 yıllarındaki kayıtlarını inceleyerek tamamladığı doktora araştırması odağında, Osmanlı İstanbul'unda evlilik ve boşanma davaları üzerine sohbet ediyoruz. Elbirlik'in araştırması, kadınların evlilik, boşanma ve mülkiyetle ilişkili konularda mahkemeleri aktif olarak kullandıklarını gösterirken, Osmanlı ailesinde ve toplumunda kadının rolüne dair yaygın kanıları da yeniden değerlendiriyor. « Click for More »

Episode 430with Nurfadzilah Yahayahosted by Chris GratienDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudDuring the 19th century, Southeast Asia came under British and Dutch colonial rule. Yet despite the imposition of foreign institutions and legal codes, Islamic law remained an important part of daily life. In fact, as our guest Fadzilah Yahaya argues, Islamic law in the region underwent significant transformation as a result of British and Dutch policies. But rather than merely a top-down transformation, Yahaya highlights the role of the small and largely mercantile Arab diaspora as a major factor in European policy towards Islamic law in Southeast Asia. In our conversation, we  discuss Islamic law and the Arab diaspora in Southeast Asia during the colonial period as well as some of the more unusual court cases arising from this period and the implications of this history for Southeast Asia today.« Click for More »

Episode 345with Will Hanleyhosted by Taylor M. MooreDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudIn this episode, Will Hanley transports us to the gritty, stranger-filled streets of the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, as we discuss his book, Identifying with Nationality: Europeans, Ottomans, and Egyptians in Alexandria. We explore how nationality—an abstract tool in the pages of international legal codes—became a new social and legal category that tangibly impacted the lives of natives and newcomers to Alexandria at the turn of the twentieth century. We consider how nationality brought together the previously impersonal, stranger networks using an array of paper technologies, vocabularies, and legal practices that forged bonds of affiliations between the individuals and groups that inhabited the city. Finally, we discuss how Egyptians and non-European foreigners, such as Algerians, Tunisians, and Maltese, benefited or were disenfranchised from a legal hierarchy that privileged white, male Euro

with Julie Stephenshosted by Chris Gratien and Tyler ConklinDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudDuring the 1920s, a publisher in Lahore published a satire on the domestic life of the Prophet Muhammad during a period of religious polemics and communal tension between Muslims and Hindus under British rule. The inflammatory text soon became a legal matter, first when the publisher was brought to trial and acquitted for "attempts to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes" and again when he was murdered a few years later in retaliation for the publication. In this episode, Julie Stephens explores how this case highlights debates over the meaning of religious and political liberties, secularism, and legal transformation during British colonial rule in South Asia. In doing so, she challenges the binary juxtaposition between secular reason and religious sentiment, instead pointing to their mutual entanglement in histories of law and empire.« Click for More »

with Elyse Semerdjianhosted by Chris GratienDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudThe changing of one's religion may be viewed today as a matter of personal spirituality or identity, but as the historiography of the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere increasingly shows, conversion was often a public act with political, socioeconomic, and gendered components. In this episode, Elyse Semerdjian returns to the podcast to discuss her research on conversion in early modern Aleppo and how women sometimes utilized the act of conversion (or non-conversion) and the legal structures of the Ottoman Empire to gain the upper hand in familial and economic matters.« Click for More »

with Omar Chetahosted by Zoe GriffithDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudThe Capitulations are regarded as one of the most obvious and humiliating signs of European dominance over Ottoman markets and diplomatic relations in the 19th century, granting European merchants and their Ottoman protégés extensive extraterritorial privileges within the empire. In this podcast, Professor Omar Cheta probes the limits of the Capitulations in the Ottoman province of Egypt, where the power of the local Khedives intersected and overlapped with the sovereignty of the sultan and the capitulatory authority of the British consulate. Commercial disputes involving European merchants and their protected agents on Ottoman-Egyptian soil reveal the ambiguous and negotiable nature of jurisdiction and legal identities in the mid-19th century. These ambiguous boundaries provided spaces for merchants and officials to contest the terms of extraterritorial privileges. The creation of new legal forums such as the mixe

with Cengiz Kırlı hosted by Chris Gratien Within Anglophone historiography, the Tanzimat period is conventionally represented as an era of centralizing reforms emanating from the imperial center that represent a trend often labeled as "modernization" or "Westernization." Less attention has been given to what these administrative changes meant in practice and how they were carried out in the different provinces of the Ottoman Empire. In this episode, Cengiz Kırlı discusses his work on various facets of the Tanzimat and its implementation, offering a preview of his new Turkish-language monograph on the "invention of corruption" in the Ottoman Empire and examining the interplay of local and imperial power during an the early Tanzimat period in the Balkans. a:hover { cursor:pointer; } with Cengiz Kırlıhosted by Chris GratienDownload the episodePodcast Feed | iTunes | SoundcloudWithin Anglophone historiography, the Tanzimat period is conventionally represented as an era of centrali

with Samy Ayoubhosted by Hadi Hosainy and Christopher RoseDownload the episodePodcast Feed | iTunes | Soundcloud Much of the scholarship on the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, which had its roots in the sociopolitical context of the 8th century Iraq, focuses on the early centuries of that school's development. Meanwhile, recent scholarship on the later periods emphasizes the transformations within the Hanafi jurisprudence in the early modern and modern periods, particularly as a result of the increasing role of the Ottoman state in the process of lawmaking. Dr. Samy Ayoub presents a different approach on Ottoman Hanafi jurists, who maintained the integrity of the legal discourse while recognizing the needs of the times. In this episode, Dr. Ayoub shares some of his reseach on the question of continuity and change under the self-desctibed “late-Hanafis” from the 16th century until the making of mecelle, the first attempt at codifying Islamic law, during the late 19th century.« Click for More »

with Michael Talbot & Güneş Işıkselhosted by Arianne Urus and Sam DolbeeDownload the episodePodcast Feed | iTunes | Soundcloud This podcast explores murky boundaries in two senses. The first has to do with Anglo-Ottoman commerce and diplomacy in the early modern period. Like the more well-known case of the the British East India Company in South Asia, British diplomatic representation in Constantinople was also controlled by a corporate entity. Known as the Levant Company, the institution ensured that from the late 16th to the early 19th century there was little distinction between merchants and statesmen when it came to British diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire. The blurred lines gave way to what might be called a “cycle of necessity,” in which British diplomats gave gifts to secure commercial privileges for British merchants who would then fund the diplomats to provide gifts again. Yet the cycle did not always proceed smoothly, and discrepancies between translations of agreements often played a key role i

with Aurelie Perrierhosted by Sam DolbeeThis episode is part of a series on Women, Gender, and Sex in Ottoman historyDownload the seriesPodcast Feed | iTunes | SoundcloudThe association of Algeria with sex figured prominently in the artwork and literature that was critiqued so famously by Edward Said in Orientalism. In this episode, Dr. Aurelie Perrier discusses the practical backdrop of this argument beyond the level of discourse by exploring illicit sex in 19th century Algeria under both Ottoman and French rule. Beginning with the fluid boundaries of Ottoman-administered sex work, she describes the transformations that accompanied French colonialism beginning in 1830. Contextualizing the sex trade in both eras with flows of labor migration, Perrier also illuminates the spatial dynamics of the French approach to prostitution, namely the birth of red-light districts and brothels. At once centralizing and segregating sex work, this new politics of space was intimately connected to the boundaries of race and cl

Hadi Hosainy ile 17. yüzyıl İstanbulu'nda kadın mülkiyet hakları üzerine konuştuğumuz bu podcastımızda kadınların hukuki yollara başvurarak nasıl kendilerini koruduklarına ve Osmanlı toplumunun şeri hukukun kadını dezavantajlı bir konuma iten kurallarının nasıl arkasından dolandığına değindik. Toplumsal cinsiyetin hukukun işleyişine etkilerini tartıştık.« Click for More »

with Khaled Fahmyhosted by Susanna FergusonDownload the podcastFeed | iTunes | GooglePlay | SoundCloudHow have the immense transformations of the nineteenth century impacted Egyptian state and society? Our guest Dr. Khaled Fahmy has devoted much of his work to the study of that very question in the realms of military, medicine, and in this episode, law, which is the subject of his forthcoming book. In this episode, we explore the emergence to of new legal institutions under Mehmed Ali's government in Egypt and ask Dr. Fahmy what this meant for Egypt and how it fits into the broader changes afoot in the Ottoman world.« Click for More »

with Sarah Steinhosted by Alma HeckmanCrosslisted from tajineThe 1870 Crémieux Decree extended French citizenship to most, but not all, of Algeria's Jewish population. The Jews of the M'zab Valley were excluded from this legislation. As Professor Sarah Abrevaya Stein explains in this episode, this was due to a complex web of historical confluences including the chronology of conquest, shifting military and administrative structures for French Algerian rule, and perceptions of Jewish, Arab and Berber indigeneity. This story, while anchored in the local, participates in wider discussions of international Jewish philanthropies, decolonization, citizenship, belonging and marginality amid rapidly shifting global conditions.« Click for More »

Yahya ArazThis episode is part of a series on Women, Gender, and Sex in Ottoman historyDownload the seriesPodcast Feed | iTunes | Hipcast | SoundcloudOsmanlı'da çocukluk algısının  olup olmadığı son dönem tarih yazıcılığında sıkça sorulan sorular arasındadır. Bu bölümde Yahya Araz bize çocukların sadece küçük insanlar olmanın ötesinde Osmanlı'da çocukluk tanımının çerçevesini oluşturan toplumsal, hukuki ve biyolojik etmenleri anlatıyor.« Click for More »

Ebru AykutTanzimat’in ilanıyla beraber gündelik hayatın pek çok alanına nüfuz etmeyi hedefleyen yasal uygulamalar eczane ve attar dükkanlarının tozlu raflarına kadar ulaşmayı başarmıştı. Bu bölümde Ebru Aykut, Tanzimat sonrası Osmanlısı'nda zehir satışını düzenleyen uygulamalarla kocalarıyla hesaplaşmayı zehir yoluyla seçen kadınların kesişen hikayelerini anlatıyor. Geç Osmanlı dönemi taşrasında suç ve cezalandırma pratiklerinin sosyal-hukuki tarihi üzerine çalışmalarını sürdüren Dr. Ebru Aykut, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Bölümü'nde öğretim üyesidir. (academia.edu)Yeniçağ Akdeniz ve Osmanlı İmparatorluğu üzerine uzmanlaşan Dr. Emrah Safa Gürkan İstanbul 29 Mayıs Üniversitesi'nde öğretim üyeliği yapmaktadır. (academia.edu)Episode No. 164Release date: 13 July 2014Location: Koç RCAC, IstanbulEditing and Production by Chris GratienBibliography courtesy of Ebru AykutCitation: "Kocalarını Zehirleyen Osmanlı Kadınları," Ebru Aykut, Emrah Safa Gürkan, and Chris Gratien, Ottoman Histor

with Kent Schullhosted by Chris Gratien This episode is part of our series on Islamic law Download the seriesPodcast Feed | iTunes | SoundcloudWhile humans have devised no shortage of ways to punish each other throughout history, the rise of the prison and incarceration as a method for dealing with crime is primarily a nineteenth century phenomenon. In this episode, Kent Schull discusses his recent book about the development of the Ottoman prison system and explores the lives of Ottoman prisoners.Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred) Kent Schull is Associate Professor of History at State University of New York, Binghamton. (see academia.edu)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University researching the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Episode No. 158Release date: 7 June 2014Location: German Orient Institut, IstanbulEditing and production by Chris GratienBibliography courtesy of Kent SchullErzurum: the prison and prisone

with Fariba Zarinebafhosted by Nir Shafir and Zoe GriffithThe capitulations, a series of bilateral agreements with European states and merchants, are sometimes held up as symbols of early Ottoman concessions to European powers and the beginnings of Ottoman economic decline. This misreading, which is in part the product of a misinterpretation of the word "capitulation" itself, impedes a proper understanding of Ottoman Empire and the legal context of the early modern Mediterranean. In this episode, Fariba Zarinebaf offers a different look at the capitulations or ahdnames within the broader context of law and diplomacy in Ottoman Galata and other port cities.Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred)Stream via Hipcast (Turkey / Türkiye)Fariba Zarinebaf is an Associate Professor of History at University of California-Riverside. (see faculty page)Nir Shafir is a doctoral candidate at UCLA studying Ottoman intellectual history. (see academia.edu)Zoe Griffith is a doctoral candidate at Brown University studying the earl

This episode is part of our series on Islamic law Download the seriesPodcast Feed | iTunes | Hipcast | SoundcloudNotions of racial difference played an important role in the Atlantic slave trade and have left a long legacy well after the slave trade was abolished during the nineteenth century. Yet centuries earlier, an Islamic scholar from Timbuktu had formulated an argument against the enslavement of individuals based on race or skin color. In this episode, Chris Gratien discusses the life and writings of Ahmad Baba in Timbuktu and Marrakesh as a captive scholar of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansour. (cross-listed with tajine)Stream via Soundcloud (US / preferred) Stream via Hipcast (Turkey / Türkiye)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University studying the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Graham Cornwell is a doctoral student at Georgetown University studying the history of taste and imperialism in North Africa. Episode No. 141Rele

with Zoe Griffithhosted by Chris Gratien and Kalliopi AmygdalouInheritance and the transfer of property across generations connects the history of families to a broader analysis of political economy, particularly in societies where wealth and capital are deeply rooted in the earth. In this episode, Zoe Griffith provides a framework for the study of family history through the lens of the mulberry tree and its produce in a study of Ottoman court records from Tripoli (modern-day Lebanon).Stream via Soundcloud (preferred / US) Zoe Griffith is a doctoral candidate at Brown University studying the early modern Mediterranean (see academia.edu)Chris Gratien is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University researching the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. (see academia.edu)Kalliopi Amygdalou is a doctoral candidate in the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College in London working on the relationship between national historiographies and the built environmen