7 - The Ra'aya and the Machinery of the Ottoman State

Summary

ISLAMIC doctrine mandated that no dhimmi could exercise authority over a Muslim. One consequence of this was resistance to the incorporation of infidels—collectively known as the ra^˓aya— in the administrative machinery of the Muslim state. As in other areas, local requirements dictated the extent to which this principle was implemented or ignored; nonetheless, it was enshrined in state law. In this respect, the Ottoman reforms represented fundamental and sweeping political changes for the empire's non-Muslim subjects. They established, for the first time ever in a Muslim state, official equality for all subjects without regard to religion. This required Muslims not only to make legal concessions, but also to forgo the doctrine of Muslim social superiority, which had dictated the discriminatory attitude towards, and lower status of, the non-Muslim minorities.

Representation within Administrative Structures

Several new administrative measures were instituted upon the return of Ottoman rule to Syria, both within the reform context and with the aim of strengthening the power of the central government at the expense of the local wali's authority. As a means of enhancing its direct rule of Syria, the Turkish government acted to implement direct taxation, compulsory conscription, and disarmament of groups and individuals. But the main attempt to limit the wali's authority was made through the provincial council or majlis idara. Although originally founded to assist the wali, the council enjoyed broad powers that enabled it to block initiatives and to thwart measures that did not meet with its members’ approval. Even the more extensive prerogatives granted to the wali in late 1852 failed substantially to strengthen his position vis-à-vis the council. In the cities, the reach of the majlis baladiyya, the municipal council, extended into the administrative, financial, and judicial spheres: it was empowered to set tax rates as well as their means of collection, and to approve the appointment of junior officials, set their salaries, and supervise their work. The majlis idara oversaw the local municipal councils; in the judicial realm in particular, the local councils did not exercise wide-ranging powers, and important matters came before the majlis idara, which also served as a court of appeal for the lowerlevel courts, including the mahkama.