Islamic Sharia Court System

Timeline

1. c. 800–1500Baghdad · IraqClassical sharia courts had qadis appointed by rulers, adjudicating according to Sunni jurisprudence such as Hanafi, Shafi'i, Malik, and Hanbali; jurisdiction covered marriage, divorce, inheritance, debts, and criminal matters (hudud), with judgments based on ijtihad and local custom ('urf), dividing duties with administrators (amirs), forming the judicial foundation of the premodern Islamic state.
2. 1501–1520Tabriz · East AzerbaijanThe Safavids made Ja'fari Shia jurisprudence the state religion, establishing a sadr (director of religious affairs) to oversee waqf endowments, judicial appointments, and madrasa education; qadi courts handled Muslim civil and religious affairs, running parallel to Qizilbash amir tribal justice and sultanic qanun decrees, forming the early Safavid pluralistic judicial structure.
3. 1521–1530Tabriz · East AzerbaijanAfter Tahmasp ascended the throne in 1524, amid Qizilbash tribal infighting, the central sharia courts and sadr system became the lever for integrating local justice; in the 1520s, Ja'fari jurists were trained through waqf and madrasa networks, strengthening Shia judicial jurisdiction over marriage, inheritance, and religious affairs, forming a Sunni–Shia imperial judicial rivalry with Ottoman sharia courts.
4. c. 1450–1600Istanbul · MarmaraIn the 1520s Ottoman Empire, sharia courts (the kadiasker system) handled Muslim affairs, running parallel to millet community courts and the sultanic qanun code; although the Safavids and Ottomans followed different schools of law (Ja'fari vs. Hanafi), both belonged to the sharia judicial tradition, and around the 1529 peace treaty, envoys and merchants at the border were also subject to their respective qadis.