[FIRST REJECTION OF POLIGAMY IN THE MIDDLE EAST / WOMEN RIGHTS] Nikâh-i... [i.e., The Ottoman Law of Family Rights on Civil Marriage and Talâq (Repudiation), No. 3046, 13 Mukharram 1336, 31 October 1333 (1917), printed after involved in Takvim-i Vekâyi].

Those who signed the decree: SULTAN MEHMED RESAD, HALI (Court Minister), SADRAZAM MEHMED TALAT [PASHA], etc., Kitabhâne-i Sûdi - Kader Matbaasi, Istanbul, AH 1336 = [1920].

COMPLETE TITLE: [FIRST REJECTION OF POLIGAMY IN THE MIDDLE EAST / WOMEN RIGHTS] Nikâh-i medenî ve talâk hakkinda hukûk-i aile kararnâmesi: 3046 numerolu, 13 Muharrem 1336, 31 Tesrîn-i Evvel 1333 tarihli Takvîm-i Vekâyi'de derc olunduktan sonra tab' olunmusdur [i.e., The Ottoman Law of Family Rights on Civil Marriage and Talâq (Repudiation), No. 3046, 13 Mukharram 1336, 31 October 1333 (1917), printed after involved in Takvim-i Vekâyi (Calendar of Events)].

Original wrappers. Demy 8vo. (21,5x13 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 33 p. Occasional foxing and fading on pages. Otherwise, a very good copy.

Extremely rare first edition in book form, of this first and celebrated legal amendment in which Muslim women, along with other communities living in the Ottoman Empire, benefited from further steps that restricted polygamy and granted the right to divorce. It was published by Takvim-i Vekâyi [i.e., Calendar of Events] Printing House which was the printing house of the first official newspaper in the Ottoman Empire.

Under the Young Turks’ rule after the Second Constitutional Regime, women gained the right to study at universities, and to work as civil servants in government offices and as workers in factories. With the Ottoman Law of Family Rights, Muslim women, among other congregations, benefited from further steps that restricted polygamy and recognized the right to divorce. This was a first not only in Turkey but also in the Islamic world. (Source: On Maddede Türkiyede Kadin Hareketi, Sirin Tekeli (Bianet online)).

The 1917 promulgation of new Ottoman family law is recognized as a landmark moment in the history of Islamic law by scholars of women and gender in the Middle East. This world’s first official Muslim family law code, the Ottoman Law of Family Rights (Hukuk-i Aile Kararnamesi, hereafter OLFR) of 1917, would have an important impact beyond the empire, as it became the model for several states’ family codes in the Middle East.

The law is situated in its wartime political context and the geopolitical milieu of larger Europe to demonstrate that, although short-lived, the 1917 family law was a centrepiece of the wartime struggle to define extraterritorial rights of the Ottoman Empire, the Great Powers, and their protégés within the empire. (Dannies & Hock).

Özege: 15487.; OCLC 780186440, 890002770, 45099654.