Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri
| Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1895 |
| Died | July 21, 1971 (aged 75–76) Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
Abd el-Razzak el-Sanhuri or ‘Abd al-Razzāq al-Sanhūrī (1895–1971) (Arabic: عبد الرزاق السنهوري) was an Egyptian legal scholar and professor who drafted the revised Egyptian Civil Code of 1948. He wrote the draft of the Iraqi Civil Code with the help of many Iraqi jurists guided by him.
He initially backed the 1952 Egyptian coup by providing legal counsel to the Free Officers Movement and their governong body, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).
He was forced into retirement by Gamal Abdel Nasser and physically attacked by a mob for attempting to restore constitutional government in 1954. Nevertheless, the RCC banned him along with 37 others from public office.
Sanhuri left Egypt and helped draft the civil codes of the pre-Baath Syria of Husni al-Za'im (who ordered an exact copy of the Sanhuri Code to replace the majalla in 1949), Jordan (only completed and implemented in 1976, after his death), and Libya (1954) and the commercial code of Kuwait (drafted by Sanhuri but only concluded and implemented in 1981, already after his death. In 1970 Egypt awarded him its prize for social sciences.
Sanhuri was known for attempting to recreate a "pure" Islamic law by modernizing the sharia using Western civil law (mainly of American and French inspiration), and the guidance when needed of a natural law obviously just to all, to guarantee justice above religion (but reaching its humanistic ends), ideology, and personal opinion in general, when all else (including the countries legislation, the sharia and traditional customs) fails to solve the problem. One commentator argued that Sanhuri's code reflected a "hodgepodge of socialist doctrine and sociological jurisprudence." Regardless of such interpretations, his place in the legal history of the modern Middle East is secure; his twelve-volume Al-Wasīṭ fī sharḥ al-qānūn al-madanī al-jadīd [Medium commentary on the new Civil Code] (Cairo: 1952–1970) "adorns the bookshelves of many an Arab law firm, even in countries where the Egyptian Civil Code is not law" (Chibli Mallat).
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