The Position of the Moufti and the Application of Sharia
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE POSITION OF THE MOUFTI AND THE APPLICATION OF SHARIA The institution of the Moufti1 is rooted in Ottoman times and recognised by Greek law. As a general rule, the withdrawal of Ottoman institutions entailed the abrogation of public courts. Hence, in Greece, the Greek civil and penal courts have replaced the Ottoman Kadi. In the areas of signifiji- cant Muslim presence, the Mouftis were granted new status by the suc- cessful Greek administration. They continued to be recognised as the leading religious institution of the local Muslim communities, assuming religious and social tasks. They were also empowered to exercise jurisdic- tion over specifijic civil law matters. 16.1. The Moufti as a Religious Leader and Acting Head of the Muslim Communities In the independent Greek State, the function of the old Ottoman Moufti (to give opinion on legal matters) and the Kadi (judge) was fused into the role of the new Moufti. Gradually, these fijigures were granted a special legal status stemming from the Convention of Constantinople (1881), according to which the Moufti was recognized as the religious leader of the local Muslim communities with special advisory jurisdiction. This jurisdiction was consolidated by 1913 and it is still valid for the Muslims residing in Thrace. 16.1.1. Political and Administrative Authority The Moufti under Islamic law is one of the most respectable fijigures of the Muslim community and has authority to interpret the sharia. In the Greek case, too, Mouftis were deemed to represent the Muslim com- munity. Tellingly, in 1920 Venizelos gave orders to the Greek administra- tion to consider the Mouftis as political representatives of the Muslim 1 For general information on the Moufti, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. II, E.J. Brill, Leiden 1986: 866. 368 chapter sixteen communities (of Thrace) until the forthcoming elections, after which the elected Muslim deputies would undertake their duties.2 The Mouftis were supposed to be led by an Arch-Moufti. Article 11 of the Greco-Turkish Convention of 1913 as well as article 1 of Act 2345 of 1920 provided the appointment of an Arch-Moufti (Arhimouftis) but this institution was never set up. Although Act 2345 was the most detailed relevant legal text, it came late, as from 1913 onward discussions on the institutionalization of the legal status of the Mouftis and the communities had floundered.3 The Mouftis played an active role in the defence of the economic inter- ests of the Muslim communities. The Moufti of Preveza, for example, applied to the courts on behalf of the local community with regard to the ownership of an important plot of land in 1915.4 Similarily, the Moufti of Filippiada sought the restitution of local vakf property.5 The Moufti of Ioannina acted as a mediator for inter-communal reconciliation after the withdrawal of the Ottomans and the reprisals that Christians sought against Muslims.6 That said, in some cases the community bore witness to local Mouftis usurping power to advance their own interests.7 The Mouftis, at least before the 1950s, had a very important role in the community as far as associational life was organised according to a millet logic. Above all, the Moufti was the socially recognized head of the com- munity along with the President of the Muslim Community. The Moufti supervised the Vakf Management Committees and held the Presidency of the Orphan Councils. The Moufti, moreover, was by law8 member of the Committee on the registration of the electoral lists for the special Muslim electoral college in the mid-war period. The political importance of the religious leaders echoed the political antagonisms between the Greek political parties in the decade 1913–1923 2 E. Venizelos, Telegram to the High Commissionaire of Thrace, 9 August 1920, cited by Y. Glavinas, 2009: 630. 3 Memorandum of Muslim deputies asking for the institutionalization of the Moufti Offfijices and the Muslim communities in compliance with the Convention of Athens, Thessaloniki 20 April 1919, General Archive of the State, Political Bureau of the Prime Minister, cited by Y. Glavinas, 2009: 612. 4 N. Eleftheriadis, 1915b: 165 and N. Igglesis, 1926: 302. 5 El. Nikolaidou, 1987: 559. The Moufti of Filippiada together with the Moufti of Ioannina proposed the establishment of a Muslim School of Arts in Ioannina at the expenses of the vakf. 6 El. Nikolaidou, 1987: 511. 7 Such a case, regarding the Moufti of Kavala is reported in 1914, G. K. Söylemezoğlu, 1946: 140. 8 PDs of 30.11.1925 and 17.12.1925 on ‘the registration of the electoral lists for Muslims of Thrace’ (respectively FEK A 382 and FEK A 411)..