Qadi (also known as Qazi and Kadi) (Arabic: قاضى) 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 favoritism and corruption against qadis are as ancient in Islam as anti-clericalism is in the West.

Religious and judicial roles

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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 magistrates.

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 responsiblites:

... During Ottoman period, was responsable 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

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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 the Comoros island of Ndzuwani (in French Anjouan).

See also

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• List of Islamic terms in Arabic
• House of Kadies Al-Kadi Saudi House
• Cadilesker

Sources and references

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• 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 Unpublished M.A. Thesis.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
• WorldStatesmen- Mayotte

Gubernatorial titles | Islamic law | Justice | Legal occupations

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