Non-Hanefi sec influences in the 1917 Ottoman Family Law Decree

Islam has tied a set of unique principles to the family structure. Because the family is the foundation of society and has a significant impact on the upbringing of each individual, it has been given importance, and in Islamic law, there are principles and regulations regarding family-related matters such as marriage, divorce, and children's rights. Looking at the historical process, family law was legalized late. Late legalization does not mean that matters such as marriage, divorce, and family relations were handled lightly. In Islamic territories, regulations regarding family law were made by taking into account the needs of society within the framework of the Quran, hadith collections, and the opinions of scholars. However, these regulations were late in the stage of legalization. Within Ottoman law, family law, unlike other branches of law, was mostly formed according to Islamic law. To ensure the regular functioning of family law and to find solutions to emerging problems, a little bit of customary law was also used. Customary law, based on the sultan's will, was never contrary to Islamic law. In the Ottoman State, after the Tanzimat period of 1839, a period of innovation began with laws adopted from Europe, where Islamic law was dominant in the state structure. Although ordinances were made in many legal areas, the field of family law was left to the end. Until 1917, no laws were made in this area, but regulations were made as needed. Therefore, the Family Law Decree holds an important place in the history of Islamic law as the first family law, and this situation has set an example for other countries. The Decree tried to ensure legal unity with its threefold character structure by providing different provisions for the members of the three religions. In the Decree, it departed from the practice of applying Hanafi school's views on many issues and benefited from the views of other schools. An important innovation of the Decree was to bring state control to marriages and divorces. It adopted the principle of conducting the marriage contract before a judge after announcing the marriage if there is no obstacle to marriage. In divorce, it was stipulated that divorcing individuals should inform the court of their divorce within a certain period. Additionally, the preparers of the law, by evaluating the conditions of the period and the social environment well, opened the way for women to have the right to divorce, thus enabling judicial/official divorce. The Decree did not prohibit polygamy but limited it with the clause "not to marry another woman if he is already married, and if he does marry, both he and the second woman must be divorced." While all four schools of thought have the opinion that minors can be married, the Decree, based on the views of Ibn Shubrum and Abu Bakr al-Asam, prohibited the marriage of children before puberty. The Decree had a short lifespan and was repealed shortly after due to the difficulties of the time.