Latest / Aurangzeb: The Emperor Who Expanded and Broke the Mughal Empire — Fexingo History / Aurangzeb's Fatwa: The Fatawa-e-Alamgiri and Islamic Law in Mughal India
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Aurangzeb's wars, his taxes, his architecture — but there's one project that was arguably more personal to him than anything else: the fatawa e alamgiri. It's a massive compendium of Islamic law, specifically Hanafi fiqh, that he commissioned in the 1660s and that took over a decade to complete. Luna: Wait — a legal code? Like a Mughal version of the Justinian Code? Lucas: Exactly that, but narrower in scope. The fatawa e alamgiri is not a code of secular law — it's a fatwa collection, a systematic compilation of authoritative opinions in Hanafi jurisprudence. Aurangzeb wanted to standardize the legal framework of the empire, and he wanted it grounded in the most orthodox Sunni tradition. Lucas: And this is where I have to mention something. If you've been following along with these conversations, you know we're able to dig into these details because a small group of listeners chips in monthly at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No ads, no sponsors — just people who care about history keeping it going. Luna: It really does make a difference. And honestly, it's pretty cool that a project like this — a deep dive into Mughal legal history — is possible because of listener support. Lucas: Yeah. So back to the fatawa e alamgiri. Aurangzeb assembled a team of around 500 scholars, led by a jurist named Nizam al-Din Sahlawi, and they worked from the major Hanafi texts — the Hidaya, the fatawa e tatarkhaniyya, and others. The goal was to produce a reference that would be binding on qazis across the empire. Luna: So he was trying to impose uniformity on Islamic law throughout the Mughal domains? Lucas: Exactly. Up to that point, Mughal law was a patchwork. Qazis ruled based on their own training, local customs, and available texts. Aurangzeb wanted to eliminate that variability — especially in the Deccan, where he was trying to consolidate control after annexing the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda. Lucas: The fatawa e alamgiri is written in Arabic, not Persian, which is interesting. It was meant to be an authoritative text for the entire Sunni world, not just India. And it includes rulings on everything from prayer and fasting to marriage, inheritance, criminal law, and the status of non-Muslims. Luna: What does it say about non-Muslims? That's particularly relevant given Aurangzeb's reputation. Lucas: The fatawa e alamgiri reaffirms the classic dhimmi status for Hindus and other non-Muslims. They're allowed to practice their religion but subject to the jizya, and there are restrictions on building new temples or publicly displaying their faith. But it's not uniformly harsh — for instance, it allows Muslim women to inherit from non-Muslim relatives, which some earlier jurists had forbidden. Lucas: The historian Muzaffar Alam has argued that the compilation actually represents a pragmatic accommodation of Mughal reality. The Hanafi school was chosen partly because it was the most flexible of the Sunni madhhabs — it allowed the state to adjust to local conditions. So the fatawa e alamgiri wasn't just a tool of repression; it was also a tool of governance. Luna: So it's more nuanced than 'Aurangzeb made a sharia code to oppress Hindus.' Lucas: Much more. And the maasir i alamgiri gives us insight into the process. Mirza Muhammad Qazim records that Aurangzeb personally reviewed sections of the compilation and insisted on including minority opinions if they were well-evidenced. He was a serious legal scholar in his own right — he knew the Quran and hadith, and he had opinions on fiqh. Luna: That's fascinating. He's often portrayed as a bigot, but here he's acting like a careful jurist. Lucas: Right. And one of the interesting debates within the fatawa e alamgiri is about the status of Shias. The compilation follows the Hanafi view that Shias are Muslims, though with some reservations. But in practice, Aurangzeb's government discriminated against Shias — especially in the Deccan, where the former sultanates had strong Shia populations. Lucas: So there's a tension between the letter of the law and its application. The fatawa e alamgiri itself doesn't call for persecution of Shias, but the political climate under Aurangzeb certainly allowed it. Luna: What about its long-term impact? Did it actually change how law was practiced in the Mughal Empire? Lucas: It became the standard reference for qazis in India, and it's still used today in some madrasas. But it didn't fully unify practice — local customs continued to play a huge role. And after Aurangzeb's death, the empire fragmented, so the fatawa e alamgiri became more of an authoritative text than a living code. Lucas: However, it did influence later legal developments. When the British East India Company began administering Islamic law in the 18th century, they turned to the fatawa e alamgiri as the standard. So in a way, it shaped colonial legal policy and, through that, modern personal law in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Luna: So it's not just a historical artifact — it's still relevant today. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's one of the reasons it's worth understanding. Aurangzeb's project to codify Islamic law was a major intellectual achievement, but it also reflected his vision of a state where religion and governance were inseparable. And that vision — for better or worse — has echoes in contemporary debates about sharia and the role of religion in public life. Lucas: The fatawa e alamgiri is a reminder that history isn't simple. It's a product of a particular time and place, but it's also a living text that continues to be interpreted and debated. Luna: That's a great note to end on. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. And for anyone curious, the full text of the fatawa e alamgiri has been digitized and is available online — though you'll need Arabic to read it.