Crime and punishment: The Ottoman legal system

The Ottoman legal system was based on the sharia and örf law. The latter was based on two sources - laws promulgated through decrees issued by the highest power of the state, the sultan, and
customary usage or norms The sharia (Islamic law) “is the totality of God’s commands that regulate the life of every Muslim in all its aspects,” (Joseph Schacht, “The Legacy of Islam”). However, after Islam expanded out of the Arabian Peninsula, it was confronted by cultures that were different and situations that were not covered by these commands. The sharia, which never became associated with political power, over time achieved a special position in that it was referred to and used as the standard against which laws concerning practical situations were measured.

By the time the Ottomans had begun their rise to power, a number of Muslim governments in the Middle East had already developed their own legal systems alongside the sharia. The Ottomans would, in any case, have developed a legal system to deal with subjects outside of the sharia. As the empire grew, this legal system referred to as örf law, was based on two sources - laws promulgated through decrees issued by the highest power of the state, the sultan, and customary usage or norms. The terms örf and sharia were used together for the first time during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1581) by the historian, Tursun Bey.

The Ottomans preferred to leave the legal system (örf law) and norms already in place in the areas they conquered and only gradually replaced them with decrees (kanun) through the use of the court system. While kanun went into effect only after the sultan approved them, they would normally be prepared...