# A Legal Dispute in Mughal Lahore: Qadi Nurullah Shushtari’s Critique of the Later Hanafi Scholars of Transoxiana ![American Academy of Religion_Logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum4786/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2024-12/AAR_logo.png?itok=X1txspEs) #### calendar\_today Date and Time **November 21, 2022** 12:30PM - 12:30PM MST #### pin\_drop Location **American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, Denver, CO** [Colorado Convention Center (Hyatt Regency-Mineral G) 700 14th St Denver, CO 80202 United States ]() ![AAR Panel](/sites/g/files/omnuum4786/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/shahradshahvand/files/photo_2024-10-14_23-51-28.jpg?itok=MzKURY_z) This paper contributes to our understanding of the judicial practices of the Mughal administration in India during the reign of Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), a topic which is relatively unexplored due to a lack of court records and judges’ rulings. Specifically, it considers a legal treatise authored by Qadi Nurullah Shushtari (d. 1610) and a judicial opinion (*fatwa*) he issued as the chief judge of Lahore. Shushtari's *fatwa* addresses a legal controversy in Lahore between the majority Hanafi and the minority Shafi'i and Shi'i population of the capital city regarding the amount of water that a pool in a public bathhouse must contain to perform a sound ritual bath (*ghusl*). ![ MS Or. 1362 f.232 (from Nafahat al-uns by Jami. Copied for Akbar at Agra AH1012=AD1605)](/sites/g/files/omnuum4786/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/shahradshahvand/files/or_1362_f232r.jpg?itok=Yp1K8Ztb) To resolve this conflict, Shushtari asserts in his treatise that the original position of Abu Hanifa (d. 767) conformed with that of the Shi'i and Shafi'i schools. He, however, criticizes later Hanafi scholars, particularly those in Transoxiana, for diverging from Abu Hanifa’s ruling. In this article, the problem as described in Shushtari's *fatwa* is outlined and his response in the treatise is discussed. As I argue, Shushtari makes such a distinction at the expense of the later Hanafi jurists to bridge the gap between the contemporary followers of the three schools of law in Lahore. ![al-Baḥr al-Ghazīr fī Taqdīr al-Māʾ al-Kathīr](/sites/g/files/omnuum4786/files/styles/hwp_1_1__960x960_scale/public/shahradshahvand/files/dsc0030.jpg?itok=JdTwd7i_) Fatwa: When I saw that, in the cities of India where, in general, the Ḥanafī school is predominant, particularly in Lahore (may it be free from any defects under the wide protection of its governor), a huge Shāfiʿī population and a large crowd of Imāmī Shīʿīs had engaged in mutual accusation, reproach, revocation, and argumentation over the issue of bathing in pools in bathhouses, I wanted to resolve the disputed matter and to manifest the admirable truth. Therefore, I decided to address it in a manner that would end any controversy and restore harmony. So, if because of the weariness of your eyes you are not able to see the subtle points of these fields \[of inquiry\] and refuse to comply with what is necessary for attaining success and mutual satisfaction, then by signing this favorable verdict, I hereby set out on a path previously explored by Qaḍī Abū Yūsuf. Hence, I pass a verdict applicable to all the inhabitants of Lahore (may it be safe under the protection of its governor from any calamity) permitting ritual bathing with two *qullah*s, let alone more, while denying the necessity of *istiʿmāl*, in order to resolve the controversy among ignorant people and to clear up the matter in dispute. Only God knows best the truth of the matter.[\[1\]](#_ftn1) [\[1\]](#_ftnref1) Shūshtarī, "Baḥr al-ghazīr,” MS Rampur 1235, pp. 39. Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://shahradshahvand.scholars.harvard.edu/node/707866/event-feed.ics) Copy link link