How much was the ottoman government constrained by the shari’a?

Sharia courts’ bias towards wealthy Muslim men during the Ottoman Empire may have contributed to its downfall, according to a major study of nearly 200 years of case records.

An American economist looked at rulings handed out between 1602 and 1799 and noticed the judges’ efforts to help people “considered worthy of support” had a significant "unintended consequence".

Because Ottoman elites could rely on support from the courts during contract disputes, they had to pay significantly higher rates of interest on loans than women, non-Muslims and the poor, who were less likely to default because they would face legal punishment.