Publication Date
1881
Subject
Islamic courts--Early works to 1800, Judges--Islamic Empire, Judicial power (Islamic law), Judicial process (Islamic law), Justice, Administration of (Islamic law), Public law (Islamic law)
Type
kitap
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Harvard Library
Library Asset ID
LCCN: 76970933, LCCallNum: KBP1572 .M396 1881
Record ID
TN_cdi_loca_primary_76970933
Library Location
ONLINE ACCESS
Date
1881
Notes
Al-aḥkām al-sulṭānīyah (Rules for governing), by Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi (died 1058), is known as the earliest comprehensive work on governing the Islamic state. It combines theoretical reflections on the nature of the state and the qualifications of the caliph and his officials with practical guidance on the application of legal principles for judges. The influence of Al-aḥkām al-sulṭānīyah has varied over the years. In his English translation, scholar Asadullah Yate treats the work as of antiquarian interest, stating that it "affords insights into aspects of the deen (religion) that have all but vanished in the twentieth century of the Christian era." Today, however, with the reappearance of Islamic religiosity, its treatment of statehood and leadership is regarded as of more importance. In straightforward, unadorned prose, al-Mawardi covers qualifications for leadership, requirements for high executive and judicial office, and the determination of primacy among rival caliphs or military regimes. This last subject was in fact the stimulus for him to write the book. Al-Mawardi lived in Baghdad at a time when the Abbasid caliphs were fighting to restore their primacy in confrontation with numerous rivals, among them the Shia Buyid dynasty and their Sunni rivals the Seljuks. A staunch Sunni, al-Mawardi argues for a realistic statecraft based on principles he discerned in the Qurʼan and in the life and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. al-Mawardi appears to have been born in humble circumstances in Basra, southern Iraq. His family sent him to Baghdad for education. He rose to a position of influence at the Abbasid court through his writings on government. For all his importance, he has received little attention from biographers. Some authors make the unsubstantiated claim that his family was Kurdish, while in other cases historians incorrectly place him among a group of Meccan theoreticians who were out of touch with the real circumstances of Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo and thus could not have composed this work. Published in 1881, the edition presented here is from the collections of the Law Library of the Library of Congress. World Digital Library.
Kaynak
Library of Congress Digital Collections: All Content
Başlık
Kitāb al-Aḥkām al-sulṭānīyah
