Fonds IL-UH/Sijillat - Sharia Court Registers of Jerusalem (Sijillat)

Global extent: to be completed; 102 selected and described registers

The Sharia court records constitute one the richest sources for the social and economic history of Jerusalem, since this court was, “by and large, the sole legal arbiter and a primary instrument of social control” (Doumani, 1985) until Ibrahim Pasha’s reforms in the 1830s. These records deal with all realms of human interaction, from personal status issues, sales contracts, building permits to civil and criminal cases. However, after the Ottoman judicial reforms of 1876 and the establishment of the nizamîya court system, the sharia courts were no longer dealing with criminal cases and less civil cases could be taken before them. Their function was further curtailed by the British mandate authorities who limited them to the Muslim community.

The shari‘a court registers (sijillât mahkama shar‘îyya) of Jerusalem represent the oldest and most complete collection of Ottoman period court registers in Palestine, covering the years 1529-1917. Microfilms dating from the Ottoman period are accessible in the Islamic Archives in Abu Dis, at the Centre for Manuscripts and Documents of the University of Jordan in Amman, in the library of the University of Al-Najah in Nablus and in the library of the University of Haifa.

The described items were selected according to the period covered by the project and the earthquake of 1837.

The collection is increasing.

Chronological.

Free access at the library of University of Jordan, Amman.

Index prepared by University of Jordan:
“Al Quds al-Sharîf: wathâiqha wa sijillâtha wa makhtûtâtha al musawwira fî marqaz al wathâiq wa’l makhtûtât fî al jâmi‘â al-urduniya, 936/1529 - 1404/1984”, edited by A.M. Bakhit, N. R. Hmûd, A. A. Khraysât, Amman, 1991.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-middle-east-studies/article/palestinian-islamic-court-records-a-source-for-socioeconomic-history/BF4B70014BD52F9E3D898B2D1DCB7284

Beshara B. Doumani, “Palestinian Islamic Court Records: A Source for Socioeconomic History”, in Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, Volume 19, Issue 2, December 1985 , pp. 155-172, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026318400016114

Musa Sroor, “Jerusalem’s Islamic Archives,” Jerusalem Quarterly 22/23 (2005): 80-85.

Abla S. Al-Muhtadi, “The Social history of Jerusalem during late Ottoman and Mandate from Sharia Court Registers of Jerusalem”, lecture at Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO), Amman, on November 24th, 2014.

Abla Muhtadi and Falestin Naïli, "Back into the Imperial Fold: The End of Egyptian Rule through the Court Records of Jerusalem, 1839–1840", in Angelos Dalachanis, Vincent Lemire (eds), Ordinary Jerusalem, 1840-1940: Opening New Archives, Revisiting a Global City, Leiden: Brill, 2018 (forthcoming).

ISAD(G), Second Edition, Ottawa 2000.

Catalogue prepared on November 2017

Description of 102 registers from the Sharia Court Registers of Jerusalem (1834-1920) held by University of Jordan (Amman) by Katharine Halls, Alya Tarek, Falestin Naili, Abla Muhtadi, 2017.