Dhimmīs in the Muslim Court: Legal Autonomy and Religious Discrimination

1999/08/01 by Najwa al-Qattan · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Autonomy #Economic Justice #Families in Therapy and Culture #Focus (optics) #Islamic Studies and History #Law #Political science #Sociology

paper · doi:10.1017/s0020743800055501

openalex publication_date 1999/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/23

Abstract

This article will examine the legal status of dhimmīs (non-Muslims) as documented in the sijills of the shariʿa courts of Ottoman Damascus in the 18th and 19th centuries. It will focus on two related aspects of dhimmī legal life: the extent of the judicial autonomy granted to non-Muslims and the kind of justice that dhimmīs obtained at the Muslim court.

Cited by

• Islamic Conversion Narratives of Women: Social Change and Gendered Religious Hierarchy in Early Modern Ottoman Istanbul
• Judicial Biases in Ottoman Istanbul: Islamic Justice and Its Compatibility with Modern Economic Life
• Jews in the Ottoman Empire (1580–1839)
• Dhimmi [wikipedia]