The ‘Muǧtahids’ Incident’ According to al-Qāsimī’s Memoirs: Introduction and Translation

This contribution offers an annotated translation to the so-called ‘Muǧtahids’ Incident’ (ḥādiṯat al-muǧtahidīn), an incident in 1313/1896, in which a group of scholars in Damascus was brought to court on accusations of engaging in the practice of iǧtihād, as well as plotting against the Ottoman authorities. It is an invaluable primary source on the role of the concept of iǧtihād in both the intellectual and socio-political developments in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century. Therefore, it is now first presented here in an English translation, to make it accessible to an audience not capable of reading sources in the Arabic original.