Legal Reasoning in the Postclassical Period: Abū Saʿīd al-Khādimī’s (d. 1176/1762) Justification Regarding to the Prohibition of Smoking

This article analyzes the manner of legal reasoning of the Ottoman scholar Abū Saʿīd al-Khādimī (d. 1176/1762) in his two treatises on the prohibition of smoking (Risālatān ʿan ḥaẓriyyat al-dukhān) to determine the nature of the justification of a postclassical scholar relating to an individual juristic case. Since tobacco was introduced to the Muslim world in the 17th century, many jurists formed responses about smoking. Although some scholars such as ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nāblusī (d. 1143/1731) –especially when smoking later became a social issue– pronounced tobacco consumption as permissible, the majority considered it forbidden (ḥarām) or at least to be discouraged (makrūh). Al-Khādimī also expressed his opinion on this issue in two short treatises, which he wrote after discussion with some scholars in Damascus, who were most likely students of al-Nāblusī. As the title of the epistles indicates, al-Khādimī considers smoking forbidden. However, the wording is softened, and his reasoning is intersubjective and balanced, making his answer nuanced and justified with many different methodical and legal arguments. This approach illustrates how al-Khādimī makes Islamic law responsive and relevant to a case of his time, which is still applicable to present contexts. As the treatise is only available in the manuscript or in an old collection that is difficult to access, I have attached the text in the original language to this article.