Résumé
Les premiers traités du Canon druze dont la rédaction remonte au Ve/XIe siècle jettent les bases d’une doctrine religieuse nouvelle et ébauchent succinctement et de manière souvent ambigüe les préceptes moraux, mais aussi juridiques et juridictionnels auxquels les adeptes devaient désormais se soumettre, les lois (šarāʾiʿ) antérieures ayant été abrogées par la Volonté divine. Les savants druzes du IXe/XVe siècle, notamment l’émir al-Sayyid (m. 884/1479) et ses disciples, tentèrent d’expliquer ces traités afin d’établir des principes juridico-religieux adaptés à leur milieu rural et des règles destinées à organiser le fonctionnement interne de la communauté des adeptes. L’historiographie traditionnelle considère toutefois que seul al-Sayyid est l’architecte de ce « renouveau druze » ; par conséquent, elle lui confère le statut de plus grand réformateur druze de tous les temps et lui attribue un ensemble d’écrits théologiques et juridiques que les initiés observent scrupuleusement depuis lors. Or, une lecture critique de ce corpus inédit datant en partie de la fin du IXe/XVe siècle révèle que l’émergence des premières institutions druzes, religieuses et judiciaires, ainsi que la théorisation et la systématisation du droit druze sont postérieures à l’action sayyidienne.
In his work ʿUmdat al-ʿārifīn, Šayḫ al-Ašrafānī, a Druze scholar living in Syria in the 11th/17th century, composed a Druze history of origins for the entire community. This universal history portrays Druzism as an inherent part of human history, like the other monotheistic doctrines. The author thus offers a theological account of the birth of Druzism by tracing a linear discourse of world history from Adam to the Druze daʿwa (preaching) in the 5th/11th century. Al-Ašrafānī also attributes an Islamic character to Druzism by drawing on the Druze sacred text as well as exegetical literature from the late 9th/15th century, while highlighting the Islamic nature of Druzism and its pre-eminence. This rewriting of history in the 11th/17th century contributed to the popularization of Druzism, as attested in other texts from the same period. While al-Ašrafānī did not greatly influence his contemporaries, his work was of considerable importance in the Druze communities of Bilād al-Šām afterwards. Indeed, ʿUmdat al-ʿārifīn had such a substantial impact on Druze historiography that it became a historical source for writing and rewriting the Druze history of origins. Despite being quoted extensively by modern Druze historians, it remains unpublished, being kept secret in the community.
This article presents the edition and translation of five unpublished notarial deeds that describe the purchase of lands for the benefit of the Maronite Patriarchate in the 9th/15th century. They attest the recognition of this ecclesiastical institution by the Mamluk authorities, so that its representatives could conclude transactions on its behalf, before the deputy of the shāfi‘ī qadi. The Patriarchate respects and uses the Islamic legal and notarial doctrine which regulates commercial practices between dhimmī-s but also between Muslims and non-Muslims. These documents provide, in addition, information on the status and nature of lands in this area, and on the amount of kharāj. The fifth deed, drawn up by a Christian notarial authority, reflects the autonomy of dhimmī institutions under the Mamluks; its reproduction and preservation also highlight the need of the Patriarchate to provide proof of ownership of its immovable property at any time.
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