In this passage from his book of ethics, Māwardī writes of his knowledge of laws pertaining to sales (buyūʿ) andreports an incident in which he possibly resolved an issue in this area of law [though Marlow reads this incident to show that he is humbled by his inability to answer a legal question]. Regardless of a particular judge’s knowledge of the laws, in her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow cites this passage to illustrate the importance of correct adjudication for Māwardī and the high standard to which he held judges, including himself.
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.