Islamic Law in the Indian Ocean World: A Study of Zayn Al-Din Al-Makhdum’s al-Ajwiba al-ʿajiba ʿan al-asʾilat al-ghariba

This thesis provides a study of an influential sixteenth century fatwa collection, al-Ajwiba al-ʿajiba ʿan al-asʾilat al-ghariba, written by the Indian-Malabari Shafiʿi scholar Zayn al-Din al-Makhdum II (1531-1583). Al-Ajwiba contains questions and answers on issues ranging from rituals, family and economics to interfaith relations and political engagement. The questions were asked by Makhdum II to ten of his Shafiʿi teachers in the Arab-Islamic world. In this thesis, I examine how the answers confirm or deviate from central Shafiʿi legal positions by comparing the fatwas in al-Ajwiba to those found in other legal manuals. I focus specifically on fatwas that pertain to local customs and to questions of political pluralism. What is the legitimacy of Malabari linguistic conventions in ritual practice and in marriage and divorce? How does non-Muslim rule shape conditions for the lawful appointment of a Muslim qaḍi? To what extent may inheritance rules be influenced by common practices in Malabar? The fatwas show the scope of indigenisation of Islamic law in the context of Malabar and shed light on some of the transformations taking place in the sixteenth century Indian Ocean world due to the emergence of European powers and changing relations between Muslims and Hindus in the Indian subcontinent.