View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Bilkent University Institutional Repository MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY OTTOMAN SOCIETY: THE LAW OF FAMILY RIGHTS OF 1917 A Ph.D. Dissertation by NİHAN ALTINBAŞ Department of History İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara June 2014 To my parents Ayşe Altınbaş, Şakir Altınbaş, and my sister Mine Nur Altınbaş MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY OTTOMAN SOCIETY: THE LAW OF FAMILY RIGHTS OF 1917 Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by NİHAN ALTINBAŞ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA June 2014 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Akif Kireçci Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Assoc. Prof. Evgenia Kermeli Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Evgeni Radushev Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Prof. Ömer Turan Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. --------------------------------- Asst. Prof. Özgür Özdamar Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY OTTOMAN SOCIETY: THE LAW OF FAMILY RIGHTS OF 1917 Altınbaş, Nihan Ph.D., Department of History Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Akif Kireçci June 2014 As a result of reforms, related socioeconomic changes, and wars, at the turn of the 20th century, problems related to family matters were demanding in the late Ottoman Empire. People were confused over issues of marriage, divorce, alimony, and inheritance. Muslim jurists and politicians thus eventually became aware of the need for change in Islamic family law. Besides, legal modernization and the use of law as a tool for social control—for the processes of nation building, the creation of the Ottoman citizen, and the establishment of a new family structure—in the late Ottoman Empire had changed the Ottoman legal culture and required a reform in all areas of Islamic law including the family law. Despite their importance, the issues of family law remain understudied for the late Ottoman Empire. The general historiography focuses on visible political institutions, diplomatic events, and intellectual currents. Besides, an equation of the West with progress and modernity and of the East with stagnation and tradition, which still dominates much of the discussion on family law reform, obscures the possible explanations. Hence, the main objective of this work is the presentation and exploration of the legal, political, sociocultural, and economic contexts of the family law reform and the reformed law’s application in the new Ottoman legal culture to examine the compatibility between legal innovation and the needs of state and society. Keywords: Family Law, legal modernization, legal culture, twentieth century, Ottoman history, sijills, marriage, divorce, reform, modernization. iii ÖZET ERKEN YİRMİNCİ YÜZYIL OSMANLI TOPLUMUNDA EVLİLİK VE BOŞANMA: 1917 AİLE HUKUKU KARARNAMESİ Altınbaş, Nihan Doktora, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Akif Kireçci Haziran 2014 Reformlar, onlarla bağlantılı sosyo-ekonomik değişiklikler ve savaşlar nedeniyle yirminci yüzyılın başında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda aile kurumu ile ilgili konular -evlilik, boşanma, nafaka ve miras- gündemde idi. Toplumdaki aile hukuku ile alakalı sıkıntıları gidermek ve sorunlara cevap verebilmek maksadı ile Müslüman âlimler, hukukçular ve politikacılar için çalışmalar yapmaktaydı. Öte yandan, hukuktaki modernleşme ve hukukun toplumu kontrol aracı olarak kullanılması -ki bu sayede ulus-devletin kurulması, Osmanlı vatandaşının yaratılması ve yeni aile yapısının oluşturulması mümkün olabilmişti- Osmanlı hukuk kültürünü de değiştirmişti. Değişen hukuk kültürü ise İslam hukukunun diğer tüm alanlarında olduğu gibi aile hukukunda da değişiklikler yapılmasını gerektiriyordu. Aile Hukuku, geç dönem Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda arz ettiği öneme rağ- men yeterince çalışılmamış bir konudur. Genel tarih yazımında, politik kurumlar, diplomatik olaylar ya da entellektüel akımlar görece daha çok yer almıştır. Öte yan- dan, yapılan çalışmalarda, ilerleme ve modernliğin Batı, durağanlık ve geri kalmışlı- ğın Doğu ile özdeşleştirilmesi Osmanlı Aile Hukuku araştırmalarını bir ölçüde yanlış yönlendirmiştir. Bu çalışmanın ana amacı, 1917 Aile Hukuku Kararnamesi’nin hu- kuki, politik, sosyo-kültürel eksenlerini incelemek ve yenilenmiş Aile Hukuku hü- kümlerinin geç Osmanlı hukuk kültürü, devleti ve toplumu için uygun olup olmadı- ğını değerlendirmektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Aile hukuku, hukuk kültürü, yirminci yüzyıl, Osmanlı, sicil, modernleşme, reform, evlilik, boşanma. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my supervisor assistant professor Mehmet Akif Kireçci. I also thank all the committee members for the time and effort they spent reading my thesis, and for their constructive criticism. I feel gratitude for associate professor Evgenia Kermeli, for her encouragement and support even during the most difficult times of my research, and for her contributions to this study. One of the most valuable gains of this research is the friends I have made at Bilkent University. I thank them and my older friends, for sharing the ups and downs and mostly the joys of life, and for the many travels we have made ever since we were very young. For this dissertation, however, I should first thank my father, Şakir Altınbaş, and my mother, Ayşe Altınbaş. During all these years, my parents have never criticized me or my sometimes unattainable ideals, but have only supported me to their capacity, knowing that I would eventually find the “right” path. Without their and my sister Mine Nur Altınbaş’s love and support, I would not be the same person I am, and this dissertation might not be at all. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………….. iii ÖZET …………………………………………………………………............ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...………………………………………………... v TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………….. vi TRANSLITERATION …...…………………………………………………... xi ABBREVIATIONS ...………………………………………...…………….... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ………………………………….…….…... 1 1.1. Approach and scope of the work ………………………….…….……….…. 1 1.2. Literary review ………………………….…….……………………………… 2 1.3. Structure ………………………….…….……………………………………. 9 1.4. Sources ………………………….…….…………………………………….... 10 CHAPTER 2: POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXTS OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ............................... 13 2.1. Political context of the marriage and divorce ....................................... 13 2.1.1. Rule of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ……………… 14 2.1.2. Administrative and political reforms: Centralization, bureaucratization and Governmentality…………………………………………………. 17 2.1.3. The CUP’s and women and family politics: The Ottoman state’s vi intervention into marriage affairs of its subjects ……………………. 28 2.2. Legal context of marriage and divorce .................................................. 39 2.2.1. Legislative movements and the codification of the Islamic Law …... 41 2.2.2. Application of Islamic Family Law prior to the reform period .......... 53 2.2.3. Discussions of family law reform in Muslim World during the late 19th and early 20th centuries …………………………………………. 56 2.2.4. Discussions of Family Law Reform in late Ottoman Empire …...…. 59 CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC CONTEXTS OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE……. 66 3.1. Social and cultural context of marriage and divorce …………….... 66 3.1.1. Education in late Ottoman Empire ……………………..…………... 66 3.1.1.1. Missionaries and education in the late Ottoman Empire…………...……..………………………………………….….. 67 3.1.1.2. Educated male and female elite and their marriage expectations in the late Ottoman Empire ……………………………………………… 69 3.1.1.3. CUP and education …………………………………………………. 71 3.1.1.4. Education in the press, and novels in the late Ottoman Empire …… 73 3.1.2. Urban transformation in the late Ottoman Empire and its impact on Ottoman family, marriage and divorce ……………………………… 78 3.1.2.1. Dissolution of neighborhoods, mahalles, and the qadı court ….…… 79 3.1.2.2. Mingling of men and women in urban space ………………………. 82 3.1.3. Social and cultural life in late Ottoman Empire Istanbul …….………. 87 3.1.3.1. Women, family, marriage and feminism ...………………………… 89 3.1.3.2. Women, family, and marriage issues in literary works of the late vii Ottoman Empire ….…………………………………………………… 97 3.1.3.3. Fashion, dance, extravagance and marriage ....................................... 99 3.1.3.4. Veiling and marriage