Egyptian Society in the Writings of Muhammad al-‘Abbasi al-Mahdi (1827–97)

Abstract

While britain was preparing for its 1882 clonization of Egypt, Muhammad al-‘Abbasi al-Mahdi (1827–97) had been documenting and dating his answers (responsa, fatwas) to religio-legal queries given to him by individuals, court officials, and other people in formal and informal capacity. ‘Abbasi’s responsa, which occupy seven volumes, are characterized by disciplined focus on legally relevant materials, while ignoring the social implications of many of the questions addressed. This quality can be seen most clearly in ‘Abbasi’s answers to questions from the public, to whom his answers are usually much shorter than the questions, which are reported by ‘Abbasi’ himself. ‘Abbasi’s fatwas are a great resource of the social, political, and economic history of the Egypt of the second half of the nineteenth century. In this chapter, I offer translations of some of these fatwas as an attempt to highlight aspects of the social life of Egyptians at the time, especially in the areas of individual freedoms and autonomy, and the heterogeneity of the social realities of everyday life. I shall first introduce these translations with prefatory remarks on ‘Abbasi’s context and career.