The order of Ulema is divided into three classes: the Imams, or ministers of religion; the Muftis, doctors of the law; and the Kadis or Mollahs, judges. Each of these classes is subdivided into a number of others, according to the rank and functions of those that compose it.
The imams, after passing an examination, are appointed by the Sheikh ul Islam to the office of priests in the mosques. The fixed pay they receive is small, about 6l. or 7l. per annum. Some mosques have several imams. Their functions are to pronounce the prayer aloud and guide the ceremonies. The chief imam has precedence over the other imams, the muezzins (callers to prayer), the khatibs, hodjas, and other servants of the mosque.
In small mosques, however, all these functions are performed by the imam and the muezzin. Imams are allowed to marry, and their title is hereditary. Should the son be unlettered, he appoints a deputy who performs his duties. Imams, generally speaking, are coarse and ignorant, and belong to the lower-middle class of Turkish society. Their influence in the parish is not great, and the services they fulfil among their communities consist in assisting in the parish schools, giving licenses, and performing the ceremonies of circumcision, marriage, and of washing and burying the dead. They live rent free, often deriving annuities from church property. The communities pay no fixed fees, but remuneration is given every time the services of the imam are required by a family. No Mohammedan house can be entered by the police unless the imam of the parish takes the lead and is the first to knock at the door and cross the threshold. Should the search be for a criminal in cases of adultery, and the charge be brought by the imam himself certifying the entrance of the individual into the house, and the search prove fruitless, the imam is liable to three months’ imprisonment. A case of the kind happened a few years ago to a highly respectable imam in Stamboul, who, having for some time noticed the disorderly conduct of a hanoum of his parish, gave evidence, supported by his two mukhtars, or parish officers, of having seen some strangers enter the house. The search leading to no discovery, the hanoum demanded reparation for her wounded honor, and the three functionaries were cast into prison. The imam, on being released, cut his throat, unable to survive the indignation he felt at seeing the evidence of three respectable persons slighted and set aside before the protestations of false virtue, backed by bribes.
This is one of the strange licenses of Turkish law. Crime is not punished unless its actual commission is certified by eye-witnesses; this is the reason that evidence of crime committed during the night is not admitted as valid by the laws of the country. The imams, under the pressure of this law, think twice before they give evidence; nor do they much like the unpleasant duty of accompanying police inspections, from which they generally excuse themselves.
The muftis, or doctors of the law, rank next: seated in the courts of justice, they receive the pleas, examine into the cases, and explain them to the mollah, according to their merits or the turn they may wish to give to them. There is very general complaint against the corruption of these men, in whose hands lies the power of misconstruing the law.
The mollahs or kadis form the next grade in the Ulema hierarchy. They are appointed by the Sheikh ul Islam, and are assisted in their functions by the muftis and other officials.
The avarice and venality of this body of men are among the worst features of Turkish legislature. Few judges are free from the reproach of partiality and corruption. Their verdicts, delivered nominally in accordance with Koranic law, are often gross misinterpretations of the law, and the fetvahs or sentences in which they are expressed are given in a sense that complicates matters to such a degree as to render a revisal of the case useless, and redress hopeless, unless the pleader is well backed by powerful protectors, or can afford to spend vast sums in bribes—when, perhaps, he may sometimes, after much trouble and delay, obtain justice.
The Kadi Asker of Roumelia and the Kadi Asker of Anatolia come next in rank as supreme judges; the former of Turkey in Europe, and the latter of Turkey in Asia; they sit in the same court of justice as the Sheikh ul Islam.
This Sheikh ul Islam, or Grand Mufti of the capital, is the spiritual chief of Islam and the head of the legislature. He is appointed by the Sultan, who installs him in his functions with a long pelisse of sable. The Sultan can deprive him of his office, but not of life so long as he holds his title, nor can he confiscate his property when in disgrace.
The chief function of the Grand Mufti is to interpret the Koran in all important cases. His decisions are laconic, often consisting of “Yes” or “No.” His opinions, delivered in accordance with the Koran, are not backed by motive.