Hanafi’s fiqh and modern Serbian legal history

Abstract

The state operates through its legal order. It is the legal order that reflects the nature of each and every state. In this regard, the nature of the state and its authorities in Serbia during the Osmanli reign were the reflection of the then existing laws and legal order. If one accepts this assumption, then we also have to admit that in its nature, the Osmanli state on Serbian soil at that time had the basic goal to realize the Islamic doctrine. All the legal acts passed by the Istanbul administration to ensure normal functioning of this state had the Islamic character. As most of those acts had been created long before the birth of the Osmanli state, they cannot be called Osmanli: these acts were not Osmanli by their origin or their essence. It is especially important to stress out that the intention behind them was not to maintain the Turkish national idea, as it was suggested by much of the historical synthesis concerning this period, but to secure the triumph of Islam. Therefore, the best name for the laws and regulations promulgated by the Istanbul administration during the Osmanli reign in Serbia would be the Islamic-Osmanli law. It should be called Islamic, because the largest part of this law is older than the Osmanli state, and its main goal was to secure the triumph of Islam. It should be called Osmanli, because it was implemented by the Osmanli dynasty at the territories governed by it.

Svaka država funkcioniše kroz svoj pravni poredak i pravni poredak pokazuje prirodu svake države. S te tačke gledišta priroda države i vlasti koja je funkcionisala na prostorima srpskih zemalja od momenta osmanskih osvajanja do prestanka te vladavine, najbolje se ogledala u pravu kojim su regulisani društveni odnosi. Ako se tako posmatra država koja je vladala na prostorima srpskih zemalja, onda se jasno može konstatovati da je ona, po svojoj prirodi, imala osnovni cilj da ostvaruje islamsku doktrinu. Svi pravni akti kojima se administracija u Carigradu služila da bi nesmetano funkcionisala imali su islamski karakter. Kako je najveći deo tih akata nastao mnogo pre nego što je osmanska država rođena, onda se oni ne mogu nazivati osmanskim jer nisu to bili ni po poreklu ni po svojoj suštini. Što je posebno važno intencija im nije bila održavanje turske nacionalne ideje, kako se to može zaključiti iz velikog broja istorijskih sinteza koje obrađuju taj deo naše istorije, već trijumf islama. Zato je to pravo najtačnije nazvati islamsko-osmanskim. Jer, najveći njegov deo je nastao pre nastanka osmanske države i imao za cilj trijumf islama, a osmanski je jer se primenjivao na teritorijama kojima je upravljala osmanska dinastija.