Islamic Law

An Introduction to Islamic Law

\Øael B. Hallaq

7

Colonizing the Muslim world and its Shari.a

The British in India

continued to be, the sphere that determined and set the tone of economic domination. But most importantly for the Britist¡ the avid desire ro reduce the economic costs of conrolring the country red them to maximize rhe role of law. I-aw was simply more financially rewarding than brute power. And so it was not until the appointrnent of tùØarren Hastings as Governor of Bengal in 1772 *rat a new stage in the British legar redesign of India got underway. The appointrnent ushered in rhe so-called Hastings Plan, to be implemented first in Bengal. The plan conceived a multi-tiered system that required exclusively British administrators at rhe top, seconded by a tier of British judges who would. consult with local qadis and muftis regatding issues governed by Islamic law. on the lowest rung of judicial administration stood the run-of-the-mill Muslim judges who administered law in the civil colrrts of Bengar, Madras and Bombay. The plan also rested on the assumption that local customs and norms could be incorporated into a British institutional sûucture of justice that was regulated by "r:niversal,, (read: British) ideals of law. Hastings' tax-collectors also doubled as chief justices who appried Islamic law ro Muslims and Hindu law to Hindus. These g¡.irr,

until the eighteentrr centu-ry in India, and the earry nineteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, Islamic law and löcal customs reigned supreme, both having long been a way of life. But during ttre r 600s, Britain bËgan its penetration oflndia through the agency of the East India company (Erc), whose sole goal was corrunerciar profit. For about *á a harf, " "..rary the EIC tried graduallyto increase its political and militaryinfluence, but it was not until 1757 ttrat it asserted its almost total military dominance, henceforth embarking upon the massive project of colonizing India, both...