In this passage from his work on statecraft, Māwardī discusses judges (quḍāt)and magistrates (ḥukkām). He describes how the ruler delegates the authority of judgment to judges and magistrates, who represent the scales of justice (al-mawāzīn al-qisṭ, alluding to Q. 21:47, “We shall set the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, and no soul shall be wronged in aught”). These appointees are to fulfill the rightful claims of weak claimants and to rectify the injustices suffered by the oppressed. However, judges and magistrates with poor morals have the potential to undermine the ruler’s authority and to destroy religion, and their appointments reflect poorly on the ruler. Judges should thus be chosen only on the basis of sound qualities, including a positive demeanor, trustworthiness, patience, restraint, and a lack of greed. Justices should also be learned and have memorized central texts of the Muslim legal tradition. The selection and performance of judges are of paramount importance for Māwardī, as illustrated by his citation of a report concerning the judge of the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Maʾmūn. In the report, the judge counsels al-Maʾmūn against imposing taxes on the sawādlands of Iraq. The caliph heeds the judge’s advice and averts fiscal harm. In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow cites these passages to demonstrate the emphasis that Māwardī places on the ruler’s task of appointing just judges.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.