The Reflection of the Tanzimat Law on Druze Identity in Mount Lebanon in the Light of a Murder Case

Abstract

The proclamation of the Tanzimat by the Ottoman administration represented not only a fundamental centralization but also an attempt to transform into a modern state. Therefore, the edict issued in November 1839, was a call to put taxation and military into order, ensure security, put an end to corruption with new regulations after the weakness of the internal and external control of the state has become prominent in 18th century. In this sense, the most important part of the revolution of the Empire in the political, military and administrative area was the legal system. It was not easy to settle the new legal framework created by the Tanzimat regime in a region such as Mount Lebanon where sectarian law was influential. At this point, the efforts of the Shiite Druzes, one of the most important sect groups of the region, to redefine themselves in the context of the relationship with the state between law and identity as well as the conflicts with Maronites, the other important sectarian group in the region, have emerged. The transforming of the legal status of the Druze, which is one of the important actors of the power struggle in Mount Lebanon, reveals the dimension of the state-society relations, and leads us to the question that what is the meaning of "Ottoman identity" the Tanzimat reforms emphasized in Mount Lebanon.