Doctoral Dissertation Research: Islamic Law and the Negotiation of Authority in the Colonial State

SES：0617385.PI：Michael W. McCannco-PI：伊扎·侯赛因摘要伊斯兰法的政治：殖民地国家的权威与谈判伊斯兰教在过去的世纪和半个世纪里发生了根本性的变化。 其转变的一个主要场所和引擎是伊斯兰法。在几乎每个穆斯林国家实行的“伊斯兰法”制度已经从一套未经编纂和地方管理的法律的机构和法律，具有广泛的管辖权，变成了一个编纂的，以国家为中心的制度，其管辖权主要集中在家庭和个人地位法上。对穆斯林来说，这一变化具有里程碑意义，将伊斯兰法降级为婚姻、家庭、宗教捐赠和继承的范畴，同时重新定义了伊斯兰教与国家权力之间的关系。本研究的主要问题是：伊斯兰法，其经典的制定是作为一个包罗万象，法官仲裁和地方特定的系统，如何成为国家控制和有限的省份，它现在是在大多数穆斯林国家？这个项目的假设是，在大多数情况下，伊斯兰法律的这种显着变化始于殖民国家。然而，它并不仅仅是殖民者强加的，而是当地精英和殖民官员之间复杂互动、斗争和谈判的产物。此外，帝国统治的特殊结构和动机导致了伊斯兰法在不断演变的国家中的特殊称谓，以家庭、个人地位、种族身份和“私人”领域为中心。本项目将通过对三个不同的穆斯林法律的体系：印度、马来亚和埃及的比较，重新解释伊斯兰法在现代民族国家中的制定。英国殖民代理人将伊斯兰教法和帝国宗教管理的理念从印度带到马来亚和埃及;马来亚的法律的制度和法律与20世纪初印度制定的法律非常相似，但在埃及，穆斯林个人身份法的编纂和制度化在接下来的半个世纪里都没有发生，即使在那时也有很大的不同，部分原因是奥斯曼帝国和法国统治的遗产。对这些案例的比较（通过在英国、马来西亚、新加坡的档案研究以及对埃及和印度的二级研究）将有助于解释后殖民穆斯林世界的伊斯兰法如何以及为什么会发生变化。这项研究将依靠官方记录、法庭文件以及非官方文件，包括旅行者的叙述、信件和其他媒体。 这些数据将提供一个伊斯兰法律的观点，因为当地具体的，强烈的政治性，丰富的变化。伊斯兰法律在中东，南亚和东南亚的比较以前没有进行过，将大大提高目前对伊斯兰教和现代穆斯林国家的理解。 此外，这种跨区域的比较使研究伊斯兰法律作为一个跨国产品，而不是阿拉伯出口，由当地的政治网络形成。虽然殖民主义和马来社会的历史已经涉及马来精英和英国殖民官员之间的互动，但没有研究他们在法律方面的交易;也没有任何关于殖民地和地方精英如何划分对伊斯兰教的管辖权的广泛工作，这种划分有什么影响，以及它是否或如何维持。在所有这些方面，这个项目挑战了伊斯兰法律作为一个整体的流行观点。最近在伊拉克、阿富汗和许多穆斯林国家发生的宪法和法律的争议表明，对伊斯兰法律政治的更深入理解的必要性从未像现在这样强烈。在对穆斯林国家和社区的核心动态普遍存在误解的时候，对当代伊斯兰教基础进行系统研究的必要性从未如此紧迫。此外，这项研究将为重新解释前英国殖民地和可能的非英国殖民地的后殖民法律的发展遗产提供基础。最后，我们的研究将有助于连接当地社区的学者，法律的专业人士，政策制定者和活动家在地球仪。

SES: 0617385.PI: Michael W. McCannco-PI: Iza HussinABSTRACTThe Politics of Islamic Law: Authority and Negotiation in the Colonial StateIslam has changed radically in the last century and a half. A major site and engine of its transformation has been Islamic law. The system practiced as 'Islamic law' in almost every Muslim state has changed from an uncodified and locally administered set of legal institutions and laws with wide-ranging jurisdiction to a codified, state-centered system with jurisdiction mainly over family and personal status law. For Muslims, this change was monumental, relegating Islamic law to the province of marriage, the family, religious endowments and inheritance while generally re-defining the relationship between Islam and state authority. The major question of this research is: how did Islamic law, whose classical formulation is as an all-encompassing, judge-arbitered and locally specific system, become the state-controlled and limited province it now is in the majority of Muslim states? The hypothesis of this project is that, in most cases, this remarkable change in Islamic law began in the colonial state. It did not simply occur as an imposition by colonizers, however; it was an outgrowth of complex interactions, struggles and negotiations between local elites and colonial officials. Further, the particular structure and motivation of imperial administration led to a particular designation for Islamic law in the evolving state, centered on family, personal status, ethnic identity and the 'private' domain.Through a comparison of three different Muslim legal systems: India, Malaya and Egypt, which all came under British imperial control, this project will reinterpret the making of Islamic law in the modern nation state. British colonial agents took ideas of Islamic law and the imperial administration of religion from India to both Malaya and Egypt; in Malaya legal institutions and law closely resembled laws developed in India by the early 1900s, but in Egypt the codification and institutionalization of Muslim personal status law did not occur for another half-century, differing significantly even then, partly due to the legacy of Ottoman and French rule. A comparison of these cases (through archival research in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and secondary research on Egypt and India) will help explain how, and why, Islamic law in the postcolonial Muslim world varies. The study will rely both upon official records, court documents, as well as unofficial documents, including travellers' accounts, letters and other media. These data will offer a view of Islamic law as locally specific, intensely political, and richly varied.A comparison of Islamic law across the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia has not been previously undertaken and will enhance significantly current understandings of Islam and the modern Muslim state. Moreover, this cross-regional comparison allows the study of Islamic law as a transnational product, rather than an Arab export, shaped by local political networks. While histories of colonialism and Malay society have dealt with interactions between Malay elites and British colonial officials, there has not been a study of their dealings with regard to law; nor has there been any extensive work on how colonial and local elites divided jurisdiction over Islam, what effects that division had, and if or how it was maintained. In all these ways, this project challenges the prevailing popular view of Islamic law as a monolith. Recent constitutional and legal controversies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many Muslim states demonstrate that the need for deeper understanding of the politics of Islamic law has rarely been greater. At a time when misunderstanding of the core dynamics of Muslim states and communities is prevalent, the need for systematic study of the underpinnings of contemporary Islam has rarely been more pressing. This study will, moreover, provide the basis for reinterpreting the legacies of post-colonial legal development in both formerly British and, possibly, non-British colonies. Finally our research will help to connect local communities of scholars, legal professionals, policymakers, and activists across the globe.