Homicide and Islamic Criminal Law in 19Th Century Muslim Jurisdictions Brian Wright Institute of Islamic Studies Mcgill Universi
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Homicide and Islamic Criminal Law in 19th Century Muslim Jurisdictions Brian Wright Institute of Islamic Studies McGill University, Montreal April 2019 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Brian Wright, 2019 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 4 Notes on Cases, Transliteration and Abbreviations ..................................................................... 6 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 7 The End of the Sharīʿa ................................................................................................................... 14 Homicide as a Point of Convergence ............................................................................................. 25 The Shared Fates of India, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire ......................................................... 26 Defining Sources ............................................................................................................................ 30 A Question of Terms: Sharīʿa vs. Law .......................................................................................... 32 Defining the Sharīʿa ...................................................................................................................... 34 Organization ................................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 1: Establishing Justice through State Law ................................................................... 42 India: Following in the Mughal Footsteps ..................................................................................... 47 Ottoman Empire and Egypt: Corruption and the Perception of Crime .......................................... 54 Expanding State Control through Siyāsa ....................................................................................... 60 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 2: New Elites Changing the Law................................................................................... 69 Educating the New Elite ................................................................................................................ 71 The Fate of “Traditional” Muslim Institutions .............................................................................. 82 Muḥammad Qadrī Bāshā and the Egyptian Penal Code ................................................................ 87 Nazeer Ahmad and Translating the Indian Penal Code ................................................................. 90 Conclusion: The Role of Translation in Law ................................................................................. 96 Chapter 3: The Classification of Homicide .............................................................................. 101 Developing Ḥanafī Doctrine ........................................................................................................ 103 Avoiding Punishment and the Doubt Canon................................................................................ 108 Muftis in India: Adapting to accommodate punishment .............................................................. 112 The Ottoman and Egyptian Codes ............................................................................................... 126 French Influence through Mālikī Rulings .................................................................................... 129 From Personal to State Crime ...................................................................................................... 134 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 139 Chapter 4: Establishing Criminal Intent .................................................................................. 141 Deadly Weapons: The Ḥanafī Approach ..................................................................................... 144 Deadly Weapon vs. Motive in British India ................................................................................ 149 1 Weapons & Premeditation in the Ottoman and Egyptian Codes ................................................. 157 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 164 Chapter 5: Criminal Responsibility ........................................................................................... 168 Juvenile Offenders ....................................................................................................................... 171 Insanity ......................................................................................................................................... 179 Shared Criminal Responsibility ................................................................................................... 191 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 203 Conclusion: A Bridge Between Systems ................................................................................... 207 Colonialism and Local Actors ..................................................................................................... 212 Changing Tides and Islamism ...................................................................................................... 215 Defining the Sharīʿa .................................................................................................................... 219 Questions for Future Research ..................................................................................................... 224 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 226 2 Abstract This dissertation analyzes the rules of homicide in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and the penal codes of 19th century Muslim jurisdictions, namely the Ottoman Penal Code of 1858, the Indian Penal Code of 1860, and the Egyptian Penal Code of 1883. Challenging arguments that the Sharīʿa came to an end and was replaced with codes influenced by colonial powers, the dissertation argues that the new penal codes do not represent a divergence with Islamic law but a convergence of Islamic law, colonial influence, and the changing role of the state. Islamic legal norms continued to play an important role in the development of criminal law, from the environment in which the laws were applied to the actors who developed and justified the laws and, ultimately, to the content of the laws themselves. Resumé Cette thèse analyse les règles régissant l’homicide dans le cadre de la jurisprudence islamique (fiqh) ainsi que les codes pénaux issus par des juridictions musulmanes au courant du XIXe siècle, c’est-à-dire le Code pénal ottoman de 1858, le Code pénal indien de 1860 et le Code pénal égyptien de 1883. Contestant l’argumentaire que la Sharīʿa eût touché à sa fin et fût remplacée par des codes influencés par les puissances coloniales, cette thèse soutient que les nouveaux codes pénaux n’incarnent non pas une divergence vis-à-vis de la loi islamique, mais bien plutôt une convergence entre loi islamique, influence coloniale et un rôle de l’État en mutation. Les normes juridiques islamiques continuèrent de jouer un rôle important dans le développement du droit criminel, que ce soit au niveau de l’environnement au sein duquel les lois furent appliquées ou des acteurs qui développèrent et justifièrent ces lois, ou encore, ultimement, au niveau du contenu des lois elles- mêmes. 3 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Pasha M. Khan at McGill and Prof. Iza Hussin at Cambridge; their willingness to put up with my inconsistencies during the writing and review processes have helped develop this dissertation into its final form. Prof. Jonathan Brown at Georgetown University also provided critical input and feedback on early ideas and development. There have also been many dear friends and colleagues whom I have enjoyed the company of along the way in Montreal, Istanbul, Cairo, and India. Each person in his or her own way has been critical to the development of this dissertation and shaped me as a person and student of knowledge. I would like to mention Sayed Fathy, my first teacher of Islamic Law at the Sibawayh Center in Cairo and Prof. Mohammad Serag at the American University in Cairo for their knowledge, guidance, and support. The great libraries and archives that I had the honor of visiting are also deserving of praise, as the selfless and tireless work of their librarians often go unnoticed in too many academic works. I would therefore like to thank the librarians of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University, the Süleymaniye Library and Ottoman Archives in Istanbul, the al-Azhar Library in Cairo, the Shiblī Nuʿmānī Library of Nadwat al-ʿUlāmāʾ in Lucknow, the Khuda Baksh