Why did many Muslim countries replace sharia criminal codes with European-style legal codes during the 19th century?

During the 19th century, many Muslim countries replaced traditional sharia criminal and civil codes with European-style legal systems primarily because the traditional sharia courts were increasingly viewed as out of touch with the needs of the modern era, particularly regarding their systems of procedure and evidence.1

In the Ottoman Empire, reformers during the Tanzimat period pursued these changes with two specific goals: to modernize traditional Islamic law and to make the legal system acceptable to European powers. By adopting codes based on European models—such as French law—reformers aimed to abolish the Capitulations, which had exempted foreigners from local criminal law, thereby helping the state recover its full sovereignty.23

These reforms shifted the administration of law away from the ulama and into new, secular state courts. Consequently, the application of sharia was largely confined to family law and matters of succession, while criminal and general civil law were replaced by modern, codified statutes.21