What is period of codficitaion in maliki fiqh?
This period begins with the codification of first Ottoman legal code called Majalla in 1284 AH / 1868 CE and continues until the present time.
The noteworthy characteristics of this era are as follows:
1- The movements of codification began. “Majallat al-Ahkam al-Adliyya” which is the code that gave its name to this period was the first step of this movement. This code was followed by rapid codification efforts across the Muslim states.
Under the influence of the codification movements in the west, Ottoman Empire gathered the prominent jurists of the period and formed a committee called “Majallah Committee”. This committee led by Ahmet Cevdet Paşa began their task in 1868 CE and it took eight years for them to prepare the Majalla consisting of 1851 articles. The Majallah went into effect by an imperial edict in 1876.
Majallah was followed by the Penal Codes of 1840 and 1851, 1857 Land Law, and finally by 1917 Hukuk-u Aile Kararnamesi (Enactment of Family Law). Especially Hukuk-u Aile Kararnamesi adopted the views from other schools of Islamic law in addition to the views of Hanafi jurists. After a short while, codification in the area of family law was also carried out in Egypt and Syria. Very soon after, the movement of codification was taken as an example by many other Muslim states.
2- Some earlier books encompassing the spirit of itjihad were republished. Special attention was given to the books of certain scholars such as: Shah Waliyullah, Shawkani, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Hazm, and Shatibi.
3- Qamus (dictionary), encyclopedias and fiqh books on four major schools of Islamic law were written.
4- Books were written aiming to introduce, defend and compare Islamic law against western law that dominated the modern world.
Source: Fiqh1 (According To The Shafi’i School Of Islamic Law), Erkam Publications
