The Ottoman Tanzimat and the Constitution

Authors

  • Author

  • Wajih Kawtharani

Keywords:

Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Reform

Abstract

This study is rooted in the various contexts in which the Ottomans adopted the Tanzimat , a series of reforms in the 19th century, which later gave rise to a constitution. These reforms came about because of the impact of competitive forms of rising capitalism, a growing awareness among local elites on the importance of reforms, and the tensions borne out of the diversity and complexity of the Ottoman Empire's ethnic composition. This study seeks to describe these reforms in terms of what the constitution strived to achieve-a Western concept of citizenship represented in the formation of a nation-state, which implied the rise of civil society, human rights, and the rights of citizenship-and what was prevalent at the time of the Ottoman Empire-a system that conceptually embodied the idea of a state founded on a dominant, over-arching social community (or social solidarity - asabiya) in a society composed of multiple ethnicities.

References

  1. * This study was originally published in the third Edition of Tabayyun (Winter 2013 , pp. 7 - 22). Tabayyun , published by the Arab Center for Research and Research Professor at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. His research centers on social history and political sociology with a specific focus on the levant , historical methodology and Islamic thought. Previously , he was the Director of Studies at the Center for Arab Unity Studies and Editor - in - Chief of the Minbar Al - Hiwar (Dialogue Forum) Journal. Kawtharani is also a professor emeritus of the Faculty of Humanities at the Lebanese University. He can
  2. * Tanzimat , (Turkish: “ Reorganization ”), series of reforms promulgated in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876 under the reigns of the sultans Abdulmecid I and Abdulaziz. These reforms , heavily influenced by European ideas , were intended to usher in a fundamental change of the empire from the old Policy Studies , is a peer - reviewed academic quarterly journal devoted to philosophical and cultural studies. be reached at: wajih. kawtharani @ dohainstitute. org system based on theocratic principles to that of a modern state.
  3. The Constitution , translated by Nawfal Nimat Allah Nawfal , reviewed by Khalil al - Khury (Beirut , the Literary Press , 1883), pp. 412 - 414. This work includes the texts of the Ottoman Tanzimat and the text of the Fundamental Law , which is the 1876 constitution. Also see the commentary on some of the constitutional articles in: Abd al - Aziz Muhammad Aawad , The Ottoman Administration in the Wilaya of Syria , 1864-1914 , (in Arabic) prefaced by Ahmad
  4. Articles 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. Available with commentary in: Edouard Engelhardt , La Turquie et le Tanzimat , ou histoire des réformes dans l ' Empire Ottoman , depuis 1826 jusqu ' à nos jours , 2 vols. (Paris: A. Cotillon , 1882 - 1884). Also see the following constitutional articles: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 in: The Fundamental Izzat Abd al - Karim , the Modern Arab History Library (Cairo: Dar al - Maarif , 1969). Law (in Arabic), (Beirut , the Scholarly Press of Yusuf Ibrahim Sadir , 1908) (Official Arabic translation).
  5. The Fundamental Law , article 42 and 59.
  6. The Fundamental Law , articles 60 and 64.
  7. Bernard Lewis , The Emergence of Modern Turkey , no. 135 , 2 nd ed. (London: Oxford University Press , 1968), pp. 141 and 150.
  8. The Fundamental Law , article 8.
  9. These ideas were expanded in: Wajih Kawtharani , “ Authority , Society , and Political Action: From the History of the Ottoman Wilayat in Syria ,” (in
  10. Suleiman al - Bustani , A Memory and a Moral: The Ottoman State before and after the Constitution ,” (in Arabic) Edited by Khalid Ziadeh , the Contemporary Arabic), the Doctoral Dissertations Series , 13 (Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies , 1988), pp. 33 - 77. Arab Legacy Series (Beirut: al - Taliaa Publishing , 1978).
  11. Muhammad Rafiq al - Tamimi and Muhammad Bahjat , The Wilayat of Beirut , vol. 2 , (in Arabic), (Beirut: al - Iqbal Press , 1916).
  12. More on this theme in: Kawtharani , Authority and Society , pp. 92 - 96.
  13. Al - Tamimi and Bahjat , The Wilayat , pp. 109 - 110.
  14. Rifaa Rafi al - Tahtawi , The Complete Works of Rifaa Rafi al - Tahtawi (vol. 2), (in Arabic), edited by Muhammad Amara , (Beirut: the Arab Institute for
  15. Jean Dayeh , “ The Teacher Butrus al - Bustani: A Study and Documents ,” (in Arabic) in The Trumpet of Syria , 4 , October 25 , 1860. (Beirut: Fikr Magazine Studies and Publications , 1973 - 1977), pp. 120 - 121. publications , 1981)
  16. Ibid., pp. 120 - 121.
  17. For a more expanded discussion of this idea , see: Wajih Kawtharani , The Scholar and the Sultan: the Dialectic of Religion and Politics in Safavid - Qajar
  18. Rachid Rida , “ The vices and benefits of Europeans – despotism ,” al - Manar , year 10 , issue 4 (1907), p. 83 ; and Muhammad Rachid Rida , Political Iran and the Ottoman State , 2 nd edition (in Arabic), (Beirut: al - Taliaa Publishing , 2001). Selections from al - Manar Journal , (in Arabic), edited by Wajih Kawtharani (Beirut: al - Taliaa Publishing , 1980).
  19. Rachid Rida , al - Manar , year 11 , issue 6 (July 1908), p. 417.
  20. The book was published in Farsi in 1909 , then re - printed in 1955 with a preface by Ayatullah Talaqani following the Musaddaq movement in Iran. It should be noted that an Arabic translation of some of the book ’ s chapters appeared in the Lebanese al - Irfan journal , translated by Salih al - Jaafari in 1930 under the tile “ Despotism and Democracy ”. In writing this paper , the following translation has been used: Husain Naini , “ Despotism and Democracy ,” al - Irfan (Saida), year 20 , issues 1 , 4 , 5 (1930). It should also be noted that the use of the example of al - Naini (an Iranian) on the subject of constitutionalism in Islamic thought is because of the influence his book garnered among the Shia Arab elites in many Arab countries , especially among the educated modernists in South Lebanon and Najaf , especially in the latter city where the senior Mujtahids (the sources of emulation) held a great influence over the masses of the faithful peoples.
  21. Ibid., p. 45 - 46.
  22. Ibid., p. 178 - 179.
  23. Al - Manar , year 20 , issue 4 (1930), p. 434.
  24. Ibid., p. 434 - 435
  25. Al - Manar , year 20 , Issue 5 (1930), p. 568
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Vol. 1 No. 001 (2018): Issue 001

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