What is "qanun"

n. (alternative form of kanoon English)

The kanun, ganoun or kanoon (, qānūn; , kanonaki; , k’anon; , qānūn; ; , qālūn; ) is a string instrument played either solo, or more often as part of an ensemble, in much of the Middle East, Maghreb, West Africa, Central Asia, and southeastern regions of Europe. The name derives from the Arabic word qanun, meaning "rule, law, norm, principle", which is itself a phonetic borrowing of the ancient Greek word 'κανών' (rule) or Latin equivalent canon (not to be confused with the European polyphonic musical style and composition technique known by the same name). Traditional and Classical musics executed on the qanun are based on Maqamat or Makamlar. As the historical relative of santur from the same geography, qanun is thought to trace its origins back to Assyria, where an ancestral homologue might have been used in Mesopotamian royal courts and religious ceremonies. The instrument today is a type of large zither with a thin trapezoidal soundboard that is famous for its unique melodramatic sound.

Qanun or Kanun may refer to:

• Qanun (law): laws promulgated by Muslim sovereigns, in particular the Ottoman Sultans, in contrast to shari'a, the body of law elaborated by Muslim jurists.
• Qanun (instrument), a large zither played in and around the Middle East
• Kanun (Albania), the traditional clan law of Albania
• Ziji, astronomical tables
• The Canon of Medicine, a 1025 AD medical encyclopedia by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)

Qanun is an Arabic word derived from the Greek κανών (kanōn, the root for the modern English word " canon"). It can refer to laws promulgated by Muslim sovereigns, in particular the Ottoman Sultans, in contrast to shari'a, the body of law elaborated by Muslim jurists. The 10th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman was known in the Ottoman Empire as Suleiman Kanuni ("the Lawgiver"), due to his code of laws.

After the fall of the Abbasids in 1258, a practice known to the Turks and Mongols transformed itself into Qanun, which gave power to caliphs, governors, and sultans alike to "make their own regulations for activities not addressed by the sharia." This became increasingly important as the Middle East started to modernize, thus running into the problems of a modern state, which were not covered by Shariah. The Qanun began to unfold as early as Umar I (586-644 CE). Many of the regulations covered by Qanun were based on financial matters or tax systems adapted through the law and regulations of those territories Islam conquered. Qanun in Arabic means law or rules.