In the Ottoman Empire, non-muslim people in the status of d̲h̲immī had the opportunity to solve their cases named civil status such as marriage, divorce, alimony, and inheritance in the community courts according to their own laws. Besides, they had the right to apply to the ḳāḍī Court for their cases. In the Ottoman Empire, the d̲h̲immī people submitted to the ḳāḍī Court on social issues such as mar-riage, divorce, dowry, alimony, child custody, and inheritance mostly. In Ottoman history, the signifi-cance of the ḳāḍī Registers, which contained the records of the cases held at the ḳāḍī Court and constitut-ed the main source for issues pertaining to social life, economy, law and the like, is a well-known fact by anyone. In this study, books of s̲h̲arīʿa records of Trabzon count that were used as the main source, have reached today in series. According to the s̲h̲arīʿa records, it is understood that d̲h̲immī man and woman submitted to the ḳāḍī Court for many matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, bailment, alimony, purchase-sale, and receivables. In this article, the practice of using the ḳāḍī court by d̲h̲immīs people in Trabzon, where Muslim and non-Muslim populations live together, was discussed. An attempt was made to clarify the reasons why the d̲h̲immī opted for ḳāḍī Courts rather than submitting to the com-munity courts in accordance with their own legal norms in area of private law.
In the Ottoman Empire, the d̲h̲immīs had the right to apply to their own community court on is-sues that fell in scope of ahval-i şahsiye (civil status). Furthermore, the d̲h̲immīs had the right to marry, divorce, enter into debt relationship, acquire movable and immovable estates, become heirs within the scope of Islamic law. While Islamic law enables the d̲h̲immīs to be subjected to their own religious law rules in some matters, it also allowed them to apply to the ḳāḍī courts. The d̲h̲immīs applied to the ḳāḍī Court mostly for social issues such as marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance. In this study, the applications by d̲h̲immīs to the ḳāḍī courts in subjects that fall under the private law were examined by using the s̲h̲arīʿa records of Trabzon in the first half of the century 18. In the Ottoman Empire, persons were both able to apply to the court directly to resolve their legal issues, and sometimes they had the right to be represented in the court through their attorneys. Those who did not come to or could not come to the court for different reasons made their applications through the attorneys. There was no limit to representation through an attorney in court. During the classical period of the Ottoman Empire, there was a practice of Muslims performing marriage contracts in the presence of a ḳāḍī or by a religious offi-cial with the permission of ḳāḍī. Non-Muslim clerics, who were officially appointed for the d̲h̲immīs, had been given the power to carry out marriage procedures. However, despite the d̲h̲immīs privilege, the d̲h̲immīs sometimes realized their marriage in a ḳāḍī court. What are the reasons why the d̲h̲immīs applied to the ḳāḍī court when it comes to divorce rather than marriage? This question can be answered differently according to time and place. It should be said in the first place that uncontested divorce at a ḳāḍī court was very easy. There was no reason to divorce. It was enough that both parties had agreed. The attribution of sanctity to marriage in Christianity made divorce difficult. The strict and conservative attitude of Christian legal norms regarding divorce must have directed the d̲h̲immīs to the ḳāḍī court. The d̲h̲immīs were not subject to Islamic law in their contracts between their own people. However, they had the right to bring disagreement arising from such contracts to the ḳāḍī court. The d̲h̲immīs often applied to the ḳāḍī court for property sales or real estate rentals. Although the d̲h̲immīs were in-cluded in the scope of private law, they occasionally applied to the ḳāḍī court for the portion of the in-heritance. The d̲h̲immīs preferred the ḳāḍīcourt in inheritance cases because Islamic inheritance law was more advantageous for them (especially for women). The d̲h̲immīs also used the ḳāḍīcourt for alimony. Alimony valuation was made in court on the condition that alimony needs of the children with decedent father were paid from their father's inheritance. One of the reasons why the d̲h̲immīs used the court is related to the foundation issues. One of the reasons for non-Muslims to use the ḳāḍī court is conversion. Those who chose Islam as the new religion applied to the ḳāḍīcourt to register this situation. There are many records on this subject that were existed in the documents.
