Reform of Islamic Law in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan

doi:10.1017/9781009031783.046

Chapter 39 - Reform of Islamic Law in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan

‘Tamthīl’ (Anonymous)

from Part VI - Alternative Sources for Islamic Legal Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024

Elham Bakhtary

Edited by

Omar Anchassi and

Robert Gleave

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Omar Anchassi: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave: Affiliation:
University of Exeter

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Summary

This chapter discusses an anonymous article titled ‘Tamthīl,’ which appeared in Afghanistan’s first newspaper, Shams al-Nahār (‘The Morning Sun’) in the late 19th century. The article was commissioned by the Afghan ruler Amīr Shayr ʿAlī Khān (r. 1863-65, 1868-78) and was likely written by Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Qādir Khān, the Amīr’s private secretary. It seems to have been based on a speech delivered by the Qāḍī to members of the Afghan military, arguing for the need for Westernising military reforms, but was in any case written for a broader audience. The article borrows many arguments from Khayr al-Dīn al-Tūnisī’s Arabic work Aqwam al-Masālik fī Maʿrifat Aḥwāl al-Mamālik (The surest means to knowing the conditions of kingdoms) published in 1867.

Keywords

Military reform Modernisation State authority Example/exemplar (tamthīl)Afghanistan.

Type: Chapter
Information: Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 402 - 411

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031783.046 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

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References

Primary Sources

ʿAhd al-Amān ‘Fundamental Pact’ Tunisia (1857), available at www.droitsdelhomme.org.tn/?page_id=105.Google Scholar

Anonymous. ‘Tamthīl’, Shams al-Nahār 1, no. 5 (6 November 1873/15 Ramaḍān 1290), 7–14 (unnumbered pages).Google Scholar

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