The Administration of Justice in a Broader Perspective

The chapter examines the medieval system of administration of justice in comparative framework and from longue durée perspective. The chapter also discusses the nature of medieval communal identities.

Judicial Autonomy: Medieval Realities and Modern Discourse

The chapter examines the notion that personal rather than territorial law prevailed in medieval Islam and discusses the tension between communal autonomy and governmental interference. The meaning and the limits of the so-called ‘dhimmi judicial autonomy’ are also discussed.

Criminal Justice and the Police

In Fatimid Fustat-Cairo the shurta was a police force responsible for fighting crime and its chiefs dispensed criminal justice. How the shurta and its chiefs operated in Fustat of the 1020s is discussed relying on Musabbih’s reports concerning 1024-1025. The shurta as an urban police force intended to fight crime was too small to maintain law and order in the capital and, in times of crisis, the task was delegated to the army.

The Cadi’s Jurisdiction: Evolution and Consolidation

The chapter discusses the nature of the cadi’s jurisdiction and cadi’s position within the state administrative structure. Between 705 and 810 cadis acquired responsibility for supervision/administration of various trust funds. While the cadis’ involvement with the management/supervision of waqfs begun during the 730s, the cadis never achieved full control over the waqf institution.

The Law of the Market

The chapter examine the nature of the hisba institution and early hisba manuals. Although the hisba law belongs to the realm of customary law, the Islamic concept of ‘commanding right and forbidding wrong’ had been grafted onto the hisba law. This mechanism provided an Islamic aura for the market inspector’s actions. The chapter also examines the grain economy of Fustat-Cairo and how the famine of 1024-1025 was handled by the market inspector and the regime. They handled the crisis at the political level, irrespective of doctrines related to fixing of prices.

Introduction: Issues and Methodology

The Introduction examines the largely ignored question of to what extent Muslim law was applied in medieval Muslim states and whether its precepts indeed governed the life of individuals and the conduct of society. The Introduction also provides a unifying framework for the book and presents topics, which are directly relevant to the discussion of the administration of justice. The inquiry is also heavily influenced and informed by the progress that has been made in recent decades in the study of early Islam.

Ismāʿīlī Rulers and the Judicial System

This chapter treats the Fatimid period (10th-12th century) as a whole, and relies on documents pertaining to the appointment of supreme cadis in the Fatimid state of late tenth and early eleventh century. It argues that in the Fatimid administrative-political vision the supreme cadi was perceived as administrator fully integrated within the state administrative fabric. The chapter also presents an integrative discussion of legal issues and their administrative ramifications.

Sunnī Rulers and their Cadis

The chapter examines the history of the cadi institution in Egypt between 868 and 969. During that period, the cadis came to the forefront of political life under the Tulunids (868-905) and the Ikhshidids (935-969). The chapter also follows the spread of the cadi institution to Egypt’s provincial towns and the cadis’ involvement in the application of the law.

The Ruler’s Justice: The Maẓālim Institution

The mazalim institution was a complex institution which combined both judicial and administrative functions. The chapter examines how subjects approached the state and what they could realistically expect from the state. The chapter argues that in order to be successful, the petitioner had to create ‘common ground’ with the state. How ‘common ground’ was created and what it consisted of are extensively discussed.