Qadi
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{{Usul al-fiqh}}
{{For|the city in [[Gujarat]], [[India]]|Kadi, India}}
'''Qadi''' (also known as '''Qazi''' and '''Kadi''') ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: قاضي) is a judge ruling in accordance with the [[sharia]], Islamic religious law. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims. The judgment of a qadi must be based on ''[[ijma]]'', the prevailing consensus of the ''[[ulema]]'', Islamic scholars. Charges of favouritism and [[political corruption|corruption]] against qadis are as ancient in [[Islam]] as [[anti-clericalism]] is in the [[Western world|West]].
== Religious and judicial roles ==
In the [[Islamic world]], under constitutional government, such as [[Turkey]], where sharia is not the basis for the legal system, the term qadi is still used to identify judges or [[magistrate]]s.
In countries that practice a hybrid legal system such as [[Egypt]], a qadi makes an initial ruling in all civil and criminal matters. In some Islamic countries, the position of qadi, formerly reduced to simply being responsible for the initial hearing of cases or even abolished in the process of [[Westernization]], has been recently reinstated, as in some Islamic provinces of northern [[Nigeria]]. When it involves a severe penalty, his decision has to be approved by a [[Mufti]], certainly in [[capital punishment]] cases, to ensure that verdict is in compliance with the Islamic law.
In Turkey, qadis were appointed by the ''Veliyu l-Emr''. With the reform movements, secular courts have replaced qadis, but they formerly held wide ranging responsibilities:
:... During Ottoman period, [qadi] was responsible for the city services. The charged people such as Subasi, Bocekbasi, Copluk Subasisi, Mimarbasi and Police assisted the qadi, who coordinated all the services." [From History of Istanbul Municipality, Istanbul Municipality (in Turkish).]
== Mayotte governorship ==
On the island of [[Mayotte]], one of the [[Comoro Islands]], the title ''qadi'' was used for Umar who governed it from 19 November 1835 to 1836 after its conquest by and annexation to the [[Sultanate of Ndzuwani]] ([[Anjouan]]).
[[Image:Arabischer Maler um 1335 002.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Abû Zayd pleads before the Qadi of [[Ma'arra]] (1334).]]
==Spanish derivation==
"[[Alcalde]]", the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] term for the [[mayor]] of a town or city, is derived from [[Arabic]] ''[[qadi|al-qadi]]'' ( قاضي,) - The Qadi. This reflects the fact that, at least in the early parts of the [[reconquista]], the [[Moor]]ish cities in the Iberian Peninsula were far bigger and more sophisticated than the Christian ones. As Spanish Christians took over an increasing part of territory, they adapted Moorish systems and terminology for their own use.
== See also ==
* [[List of Islamic terms in Arabic]]
* [[House of Kadies]] Al-Kadi Saudi House
* [[Cadilesker]]
== Sources and references ==
*[http://i-cias.com/e.o/qadi.htm ''Encyclopedia of the Orient'':] qadi
* BEKIR KEMAL ATAMAN, "Ottoman Kadi Registers as a Source of Social History." Unpublished M.A. Thesis. University of London, University College London, School of Library, Archive and Information Studies. 1987.
* [[Özhan Öztürk]] (2005). Karadeniz ([[Black Sea]]): Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. İstanbul. ISBN 975-6121-00-9
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Mayotte.htm WorldStatesmen- Mayotte]
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{{POV}}
== Ottomans justice ==
The Ottoman judges understood best the difficulty of giving justice. For them, everybody was equal from the justice point of view, in front of [[Allah]]. If a [[sultan]] did harm to the right of any citizens, it was the basic mission of the judges to do justice for that person. There was no exception to this.
But in [[Europe]], there was a big difference between the aristocrats and the citizens. If an aristocrat trampled a citizen with his horse by mistake, he wouldn't be accountable for this. He was the aristocrat and the others were just citizens. There were aristocrats in the [[Ottoman Empire]], too. Gentlemen, governing generals. These were the representatives of the aristocracy. But when the subject was justice, there was not even a little difference. Here, justice meant this.
In a community, there are prominent people and other people. These prominent people have posts for themselves. They are rich. They know important people. They have good relationships with other prominent people. The others are just people. If there is a disagreement between them, (in all the nations that the justice is weak) those who give justice are for these prominent people, and justice is always one - sided.
So, the Ottoman Empire became the unique country where justice was given equally in Medieval Europe. As ordered in the Kur'an-ı Kerim, Ottomans carried the justice fully.
The Ottoman judges prevented the abuse of the rights of people.
Judgment was absolutely open to the public. This was a principle. The judge didn't claim that he knew all the judicial subjects he faced. This was another principle. For this reason, judges kept one or more experts about the case. He gave the verdict himself. But he consulted them. The statement of the experts were added to the decision of the judge and put in the records. With the statement of experts, the decision of the judge was guaranteed.
The biggest guarantee for the judge to decide right was his conscience. It's the same today. But, what if the judge had no conscience? Some measures were taken against this. If a judge sentenced unfairly, the inhabitants of that town, either personally or as a group, filed a complaint against the judge, and these complaints were certainly evaluated by the government, and the government sometimes sent auditors. The career of a judge who was found sentencing unfairly, especially with bribery, was ended.
An individual or a group of people could appeal to the governor of the province or to the governing general. But if an individual or group of people wished, they could appeal directly to the Divan (council of ministers). Complaining to the Divan had no procedure. It was enough to sign a paper. These complaints were 90% evaluated. It was free to appeal to the sultan.
A Kadı would not be dismissed unless he had a specific guilt. He could be appointed to a more crowded town. It was forbidden for him to trade. He couldn't borrow or lend money. He couldn't accept presents. Because the judge was the representative of the sultan who was the Caliph, and gave justice on behalf of him, he would accept himself under the command of the grand vizier. The grand vizier did not control rulings of the judge. Judges had the right to call sultans to the court and judge them when needed.
In the order of the Ottoman Empire, the judge was the mayor of the town, and as a mayor he had a big authority. Because, at the same time he was the governor of the town. In this system, all the judges were from the clergy class. They represented the state. In affairs with the mayor, the government official for Home Affairs assisted the judge. These were the representatives of the trade unions who were elected by them; in the order of the Ottoman Empire they had a big authority. The mayoral order was administered by them, and the judge didn't work a lot for affairs with the mayor. But, a judge, with the titles of governor and mayor, could inspect the prices and the cleanliness of the shops, and could fine them. The police were under the command of the judge. In every town and city, there were police and police under his command. They were responsible for the public order and security, but they were from the military.
== Fast Judgement ==
In the Ottoman order, the justice that manifested late was not accepted as justice. Ottoman justice was for this reason world-famous.
A few examples of the options of Western people of "2 or 3 sessions were very rare. Generally, the judges sentenced in one session." (d'Ohsson, VI, 204-5)
"The most important cases were sentenced in an hour and executed immediately. No tricks were used to retard the sentence, contrary to Europe." (Sir Paul Ricaut, 2, 327)
"[[Turkish]] justice was the most liberal, compassionate and right at the end of the fifteenth century." (Cantacasin, 14-5)
The opinions of a [[Spain|Spanish]] author who stayed in Istanbul as a prisoner and presented his writings of what he had seen to the King of Spain [[Felipe II]] is as follows: (Istanbul in the era of Suleiman the Magnificent, 95-102)
"The justice of Turks was equal to Christians and Jews as well as [[Muslim]]s. On the pedestal of the judge there was a cross and an Old Testament by the Kur'an. The judge a [[Christian]] take an oath by kissing the cross, and a Jew by kissing the Old Testament."
"In [[Turkey]] a letter of favoritism is not valid. The best part of justice is that cases take a short time. Contrary to Spain, the right party is not compelled to agree with the other as a result of the thinking. "However, the case will not have an end," when the cases are over in the Imperial Council or in the court of the judge, the usher says three times, "Anyone who has question". Before the end of the case the judge or the Chief Army-Chaplain can't stand up."
Citizens appealed to the judge for very important cases. Little disagreements were solved by the head of the family who had great authority, tradesmen, and chief tradesmen as umpires. It was a big shame to go to the judge, who was a very important person, for such little things. But the judge had to accept the cases even worth one akce(the Ottoman's money). Morals and traditions were very strong if you compare the number of cases today and then. You see a big social situation. Today, the country has become the place of people who can't agree with each other.
In the legal system of Ottoman Empire, the system of "Hakani" and "Sultani" were used. It was a system that protected the high interests of the state.
The Sultan in the Ottoman Empire had the right to make laws for the needs of the state. This was the legislative power of the Sultan.
This "Sultani" law was absolutely valid for criminal law or other areas. The situation was like this from the beginning to the end of the state.
Along the Advancement Era everybody up to the Sultan was the friends of Allah. By beginning from Osman the Sultan they all had murshids. We see that the Sultan who depended on a murshid one hundred percent became the Sultan of Allah in fact. When we take a look at the design, we see Allah first on top, the murshid who is dependent on Allah the Sultan who is dependent on the [[murshid]], everybody who is dependent on the Sultan, were all friends of Allah.
== Civil Law and Criminal Law ==
In civil law, especially in marriages and divorces, the Canonical Law and [[Hanefi]] order was executed with the Hanefi Law as a foundation. Şafi, [[Maliki]] and [[Hanbeli]] Laws were valid and the citizens had the right to choose one of the above systems. Criminal laws were made by the Sultans who were ordered by the murshids. The afore - mentioned law that is called Sultani was the main law. The goal of this law was to protect the high interests of the state.
Polygamy was not as widespread as is thought. Sultans and lady sultans never had a second spouse. In fact, a girl would ask to put an article in her wedding contract about her husband not to marry another woman.
== Social classes ==
There was another social class: Captives. These were not the prisoners of the war, but the slaves bought for service. Slaves and female slaves had the right to sue their owners and protect their rights. A slave could marry the owner's daughter, and the owner could marry his female slave. This means that slavery hood was not a social obstacle.
All the officials who received a salary were called "askeri." (Military), "askeri" class was not only the fighting class but also all the public officials. They didn't pay taxes. The system was like this: Instead of deducting taxes from the salaries, the salaries were calculated as net pay. The other social class was townspeople. This was the tradesmen and artisans. Finally, there were villagers who were called "reaya".
With the word "reaya", as everybody thinks, a lower class or a sect was not meant. All the Anatolia, the Christians in Tisza Valley, all the citizens of the Sultan were called reaya. Reaya lived under the protection of the Sultan.
The difference of these social classes from these social classes in the West was that there was no aristocracy and serfs. These two big differences, show that there was a big difference between the social classes of Turkey and Europe. In the Turkey of the Ottomans, it was possible for villagers who came to Istanbul to be a grand vizier in almost a quarter century. He could even marry the Sultan's daughter. Such a situation was not possible in the West. Even in 1975, a person who could be a prime minister cannot marry the king's daughter.
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[[Category:Gubernatorial titles]]
[[Category:Sharia judges| ]]
[[bs:Kadija]]
[[ca:Cadi]]
[[de:Kadi]]
[[es:Cadí]]
[[eo:Kadio]]
[[fr:Cadi]]
[[hr:Kadiluk]]
[[bpy:কাদি]]
[[it:Qadi]]
[[he:קאדי]]
[[nl:Qadi]]
[[new:काडी]]
[[pl:Kadi]]
[[pt:Cádi]]
[[ru:Кади]]
[[sr:Кадија]]
[[sv:Qadi]]
[[vi:Kadi]]
[[tr:Kadı]]
[[uk:Каді]]