Forging a Habsburg Islamic Legal System: Legal Transformation and Local Agency in Habsburg Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878-1918)

Abstract

The integration of Islamic law into the Habsburg administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the 1878 occupation marked a significant shift in the existing Islamic legal system. This paper examines the impacts of the legal reforms implemented by the Austro-Hungarian government, focusing on the agency of local qāḍīs and plaintiffs in the process. The Habsburg bureaucracy reduced the application of Islamic law to the private sphere of family and marriage and established a two-tier court system, including a Supreme Sharia Court in Sarajevo, under state control. The analysis suggests that the integration of the Sharia courts into the Habsburg administration began a process of translation of legal norms, knowledge, values, and practices, resulting in a unique blend of Ottoman Islamic legal practices and Habsburg legal structures and values. The paper argues that this created new opportunities for legal claim-making by local plaintiffs.