Islam • 133Shariah received a more exalted status than in any previous
Muslim state. It became the official law of the land for all Mus-
lims, and the Ottomans were the first to give regular form to
the Shariah courts. Legal expert-the qadis, who dispensed
justice in the courts, their consultants (muftis), who interpreted
the law, and the teachers in the madrasahs—became an official
government corps, creating a moral and religious link between
the sultan and his subjects. This was especially valuable in the
Arab provinces, where the partnership between the state and
the ulama helped people to accept Turkish rule. Not only did
the ulama have the backing of the sacred law and so gave legit-
imacy to the regime, but it was often the case that the ulama,
who were native to a particular province, acted as essential in-
termediaries between the indigenous population and the Turk-
ish governor.
Ottoman subjects were, in the main, proud of belonging
to the Shariah state. The Quran had taught that an ummah
which lived according to God's law would prosper, because
it was in harmony with the fundamental principles of exis-
tence. The spectacular successes of the early Ottomans,
whose legitimacy was largely based on their devotion to
God's revealed law, seemed to endorse this belief. The ulama
could also feel that the empire was their state and that the
Ottomans had achieved a rare integration of public policy
and Muslim conscience. But this partnership - fruitful as it
was-had a negative side, since instead of empowering the
ulama, it would eventually muzzle and even discredit them.
The Shariah had begun as a protest movement, and much of
its dynamism derived from its oppositional stance. Under
the Ottoman system, this was inevitably lost. The ulama be-
came dependent upon the state. As government officials, the
sultan and his pashas could-and did-control them by
threatening to withdraw their subsidies. Abu al-Sund Khola
Chelebi (1490-1574), who worked out the principles of the