The Critical Edition of Bid?'ah al-q?dh? li ihtiy?jih? ilayh f? al-mustaqbal wa al-m?dh?, a Treatise Attributed to Sheikh al-Isl?m Abussu?d Efendi

Abstract

This paper is a critical edition of Bida'ah al-qadhi, a treatise attributed to Abus- suud Efendi, a famous Ottoman scholar who served as sheikh al-Islam during the reigns of Sultan Süleyman and Sultan Selim II. ?is treatise is a collection of law cases known as saqq; it is by means of these cases that the qadhi (judge) had an opportunity to observe how to record different law cases. ?e saqq books, collected from authentic court records, serve as important source materials for legal history and criminal laws. ?e treatise attributed to Abussuud Efendi, which consists of an introduction and ten chapters, contains more than sixty documents related to various topics, such as waqfs, marriage contracts, divorces, alimony, gi?s, precautions, purchases, public peace, etc. ?e first section of the paper pro- vides information regarding the author and his work, while the second section offers a critical edition.