Al-Mawardi

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Muḥammad al-Māwardī (), known in Latin as Alboacen (972–1058 CE), was an Islamic jurist of the Shafi'i school most remembered for his works on religion, government, the caliphate, and public and constitutional law during a time of political turmoil. Appointed as the chief judge over several districts near Nishapur in Iran, and Baghdad itself, al-Mawardi also served as a diplomat for the Abbasid caliphs al-Qa'im and al-Qadir in negotiations with the Buyid emirs. He is best known for his treatise on "The Ordinances of Government." The Ordinances, Al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya w'al-Wilayat al-Diniyya, provide a detailed definition of the functions of caliphate government which, under the Buyids, appeared to be rather indefinite and ambiguous.

Biography

Al-Mawardi was born in Basrah during the year 972 C.E. Some authors make the claim that his family was Kurdish, a claim which is unsubstantiated.

The Shafi'i historian al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 463/1072) recorded his father as being a rose-water seller. Growing up he was able to learn Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) from Abu al-Wahid al-Simari and subsequently took up his residence in Baghdad. While both Basrah and Baghdad were centers of the Mu'tazila school of thought, the great (orthodox) Shafi'i jurist al-Subki (d. 756/1355) would later condemn al-Mawardi for his Mu'tazila sympathies. He was eventually appointed chief qadi of Baghdad, and subsequently was entrusted with various responsibilities on behalf of the Caliphate: On four occasions he served as a diplomat on behalf of Caliph al-Qa'im (422-1031, 428/1037, 434/1042 and 435/1043), his successor al-Qadir also entrusted al-Mawardi as a diplomat in a negotiation with the Buyid emirs and charged him with the task of writing his treatise on "The Ordinances of the Government (al-ʾAḥkām as-Sulṭānīyah)." Among many of his various other works he is also credited with the creation of darura, a doctrine of necessity. Al-Mawardi died at an old age in Baghdad on 30 Rabi'a 450/27, May 1058.

Works

* ''Al-Ahkam al-Sultania w'al-Wilayat al-Diniyya'' (The Ordinances of Government)
* ''Qanun al-Wazarah'' (Laws regarding the Ministers)
* ''Kitab Nasihat al-Mulk'' (The Book of Sincere Advice to Rulers)
* ''Kitab Aadab al-Dunya w'al-Din'' (The Ethics of Religion and of this World)
* ''Personas of the Prophethood

* ''al-Nukat wa’l-ʿuyūn fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān'' popularly ''Tafsir Al-Mawardi''

Jurisprudence

According to Wafaa H. Wahaba, "For al-Mawardi the caliphate symbolized an entire politico-religious system that regulates the lives of men in a Muslim community to the smallest detail. Hence the emphasis in he Ordinancesplaced on the qualifications, power and duties pertinent to given office of government.. This approach to the matter would explain the working arrangement finally reached by the Buyids and the Abbasid caliphs, later followed also by the more efficient Seljuqs, whereby the military held actual power while recognizing the Caliph as the supreme head of government and receiving from him, in turn, recognition of their mundane authority."Introduction to "The Ordinances of Government", trans., Wafaa H. Wahaba (Lebanon: Garnet Publishing, 1996), xv.

Al-Mawardi postulated in his book ''Al-Ahkam al-Sultania w'al-Wilayat al-Diniyya'', That according to Shafiite ruling, an unclaimed land property could be freely given by Islamic government to particular individual whom they saw can cultivate and process the land plot so it can became productive land. Mawardi based this ruling on the case when Muhammad given 'Iqta''(taxable land) plot for Zubayr ibn al-Awwam who designed the property for horse riding training ground. This view also shared by 20th century Shafiite scholar, Wahbah al-Zuhayli, who highlighted that Zubayr ownership were legal per ruling of Shafii.

See also

* Islamic scholars
* Nasîhatnâme

Appendix

References

Bibliography

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External links

ABU AL-HASAN AL-MAWARDI


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Kitab adab al-dunya wa-al-din
1882, by Mward, Al ibn Muammad, 974?-1058
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mawardi
972 births
1058 deaths
11th-century jurists

11th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate

Islamic mirrors for princes

People from Basra

Political philosophy in medieval Islam

Shafi'is

Scholars from the Abbasid Caliphate