Dissertation Proposal

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Signature: _____________________________ ______________ Robert Moore Date The Role of the Madrasah and the Structure of Islamic Legal Education in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517) By Robert Hunter Moore Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Division of Religion West and South Asian Religions _________________________________________ Devin J. Stewart, Ph.D. Advisor _________________________________________ Richard C. Martin, Ph.D. Committee Member _________________________________________ Gordon D. Newby, Ph.D. Committee Member Accepted: _________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies ___________________ Date The Role of the Madrasah and the Structure of Islamic Legal Education in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517) By Robert Moore B.A., University of Arkansas, 1996 M.A., University of Arkansas, 2002 Advisor: Devin Stewart, Ph.D. An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Division of Religion West and South Asian Religions 2010 Abstract The Role of the Madrasah and the Structure of Islamic Legal Education in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517) By Robert Moore The role of madrasahs in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517) has been the subject of debate among scholars of the period. Recent studies have deemphasized the importance of these institutions as centers of Islamic legal education. This dissertation responds to these assertions by looking at the influence that the growth in the number of madrasahs had on the social status of students and professors of Islamic law and on the development of the structure of Islamic legal education. After examining foundation deeds of madrasahs, biographical dictionaries, pedagogical works and other sources, it is argued that Islamic legal education had become a highly structured process and that madrasahs had contributed to the professionalization of professors of Islamic law. The Role of the Madrasah and the Structure of Islamic Legal Education in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517) By Robert Moore B.A., University of Arkansas, 1996 M.A., University of Arkansas, 2002 Advisor: Devin Stewart, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Division of Religion West and South Asian Religions 2010 Acknowledgments Completing this project has been a long and difficult task, and I could not have done it without the help of many people. I would like to thank Vincent Cornell, who first introduced me to the study of Islamic education and William Tucker, whose instruction in Middle Eastern history has shaped my understanding of the field. While at Emory, my committee members have provided invaluable resources and advice. I am grateful to Gordon Newby for teaching me to read biographical works with greater sensitivity and insight and to Rich Martin for his training in theoretical approaches. Devin Stewart’s instruction in reading Arabic and the interpretation of texts has guided through my work. He has been gracious and generous with his time, insight and advice. Examining many of the sources used in this study required travel to Cairo, and funding from the American Research Center in Egypt made that possible. My time in Cario was enriched by visits with Hassanein Rabie who directed me to a number of resources and introduced me to several scholars in Mamluk history. My parents, James and Mary Ellen Moore, have given me constant support and love through the years, and I am especially grateful to my wife, Emily, for her patience, helpful editing, encouragement and love. Lauren and Ellie, my daughters, have brought me incredible joy during this time. Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Professors and Appointments: Recognizing and Creating Authority 63 Chapter 3. The Structures and Salaries of Madrasahs 112 Chapter 4. Social Status and Access to Learning 176 Chapter 5. Transforming Education 247 Chapter 6. Conclusion 321 Bibliography 327 1 Chapter One Introduction During the Mamluk period, jurists gained power and importance in Cairo, Aleppo, Damascus and the other important political and economic centers of the empire. In Cairo, enormous law schools, or madrasahs, where large groups of students aspiring to EHPXIWíVSURIHVVRUVZLWQHVVHVMXGJHVDQGDGPLQLVWUDWRUVJDWKHUHGWROHDUQWKH intricacies of Islamic law, dominated the architectural landscape. Petitioners sought out PXIWíV to write opinions on legal disputes, while judges and their deputies from the four dominant traditions of legal study oversaw courts where criminal and civil cases were brought before them for trial. Judgeships and other high profile legal positions were sought after, and influential members of society were willing to pay large bribes to attain them. During times of prosperity, professors holding teaching positions in the larger madrasahs could make an excellent living, while the teachers at the smaller madrasahs could enjoy a comfortable income, as well as the room and board amenities provided for them by the school’s endowment. Lower-level functionaries of the courts, such as 2 witnesses and notaries, provided services that were necessary to the courts and made their living from this complex system as well. The sultans and Mamluk officials kept a close eye on all parties to make sure that order in society was maintained and to ensure that the leaders of the legal establishment did not undermine their regime. They furthered the careers of those who demonstrated loyalty to them. In performing the daily requirements of their professions by instructing students, settling economic disputes, arbitrating family inheritance issues, and deciding criminal cases, the individuals working within the legal community carried out what was considered to be the sacred duty of maintaining the divine order in the relm. Arriving at a legal decision meant consulting the sacred texts of the community, the QurȽÃQDQGWKH hadith, as well as the established legal texts within the respective madhhabs of the jurists’ traditions. Obtaining the skills necessary to work in the legal profession required years of training and the mastery of many works under the supervision of qualified instructors. The writers of Mamluk period have left a rich collection of texts that give insight into the lives of scholars, the institutions in which they studied and worked, and their role in society at large. This dissertation explores the process that these individuals went through in order to attain the knowledge that qualified them to work within the 3 various levels of the legal system. Primarily, this study focuses on teaching and learning as it took place within madrasahs. Madrasahs have been at the center of scholarly debate on Islamic legal education during the Mamluk period. The primary source of contention dividing scholars is the issue of whether legal education was primarily a process that centered on a loose network of personal relationships between students and scholars or whether it was a more structured endeavor. Jonathon Berkey and Michael Chamberlain argue that personal relationships between students and teachers were at the heart of Islamic education and madrasahs were incidental to the process of producing trained legal scholars. Personal relationships, they suggest, were the primary influence in shaping students’ educations, and they deny the existence of an overarching structure that shaped students as they went through the process of legal education. Instead, these scholars emphasize the independence of instructors in choosing texts for the students to study, the commitment of students to a particular instructor, and the flexibility that allowed students to study in a variety of locations. They deemphasize the role of madrasahs and the issuance of certificates that indicate the completion of a course of 4 study.1 Those who see signs of greater organization have pointed to several types of evidence that demonstrate the existence of a well-delineated structure. George Makdisi, for example, considered madrasahs to be central to Islamic education after their emergence in the late eleventh century.2 Gary Leiser’s dissertation and work by Devin Stewart also identify madrasahs as playing a crucial role in the instruction of law students in Mamluk Egypt and Syria.3 This study seeks to contribute to this conversation by closely examining important aspects of Islamic legal education in Mamluk Egypt (1250-1517). This period is critical because it is during this era that madrasahs emerge as a truly powerful presence in Islamic education in Egypt and Syria. Immediately prior to the Mamluk period, madrasahs

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