(Source: OUP)
Edinburgh University Press is
publishing a new book on judicial institutions in medieval Egypt.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book shows how political and
administrative forces shaped the way justice was applied in medieval Egypt. It
introduces the model that evolved during the 7th to the 9th centuries, which
involved four judicial institutions: the cadi, the court of complaint
(mazalim), the police/shurta (responsible for criminal justice) and the
Islamized market law (hisba) administrated by the market supervisor/muhtasib.
Literary and non-literary sources are used to highlight how these institutions worked in real-time situations such as the famine of 1024-1025, which posed tremendous challenges to the market supervisors in Cairo. The inner workings of the court of complaint during the 11th-12th century Fatimid state are revealed through array of documentary sources. Further, non-Muslim communities, their courts and their sphere of responsibilities are treated as integral to how justice was dispensed in medieval Islam. Documentary sources offers significant insights into these issues and illuminate the scope and limits of non-Muslims self-rule/judicial autonomy.
In sum, the book shows that the administrative and political history of the judiciary in medieval Egypt implicitly and explicitly illuminates broader questions about religious and social forces that shaped the lives of medieval people in the Middle East, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Literary and non-literary sources are used to highlight how these institutions worked in real-time situations such as the famine of 1024-1025, which posed tremendous challenges to the market supervisors in Cairo. The inner workings of the court of complaint during the 11th-12th century Fatimid state are revealed through array of documentary sources. Further, non-Muslim communities, their courts and their sphere of responsibilities are treated as integral to how justice was dispensed in medieval Islam. Documentary sources offers significant insights into these issues and illuminate the scope and limits of non-Muslims self-rule/judicial autonomy.
In sum, the book shows that the administrative and political history of the judiciary in medieval Egypt implicitly and explicitly illuminates broader questions about religious and social forces that shaped the lives of medieval people in the Middle East, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yaacov Lev is
Professor (Emeritus) in Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University, Israel.
He is author of several books including Saladin in Egypt (Brill,
1998), Charity, Endowments, and Charitable Institutions in Medieval
Islam (University Press of Florida, 2006) and Towns and
Material Culture in the Medieval Middle East (Brill, 2013). His most
recent publications include articles in JSAI and Medieval
Encounters, and a chapter in Developing Perspectives in Mamluk
History, edited by Yuval Ben-Bassat (Brill, 2017).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One. The Cadi: Judge and
Administrator
Chapter One. The Cadi's
Jurisdiction: Evolution and Consolidation
Chapter Two. Sunn' Rulers and
Their Cadis
Chapter Three. Ismaili Rulers and
the Judicial System
Part Two. Judicial Institutions
outside the Pale of Islamic Law
Chapter Four. Criminal Justice
and the Police
Chapter Five. The Law of the
Market
Chapter Six. The Ruler's Justice:
The Mazalim Institution
Part Three. The Administration of
Justice in Non-Muslim Communities
Chapter Seven. Judicial Autonomy:
Medieval Realities and Modern Discourse
Chapter Eight. Administration of
Justice in a Broader Perspective
More info here
No comments:
Post a Comment