SHARIAsource

In his collection of biographies of judges and governors in the early Islamic empire, the historian Kindī (d. 350/961) provides a history of qāḍīappointments in Egypt. His entry for Isḥāq b. al-Furāt contains several anecdotes, one of which indicates that Isḥāq was the first non-Arab of mawlābackground (tribal client or associate) to be appointed to the position of qāḍī; the appointment took place in 184/800. Kindī’s accounts suggest that in spite of his foreign status, Isḥāq was well regarded by his contemporaries, who recommended him for the position because of his astute scholarship of Islamic law and his mastery of the Arabic language. Moreover, he was deemed one of the most important associates of Mālik b. Anas, the founder of one of the four principal Sunnī schools of law. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria uses this source to demonstrate the growing presence of non-Arab qāḍīs in early second/ninth-century Egypt. Nonetheless, the language spoken and used by these mawālī was Arabic, minimizing translation challenges within a Arab-dominated judicial system.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In this passage from his literary collection, Kūfī recounts an anecdote in which a translator comes to the rescue of a prison warden about to be executed. In the anecdote, the Muslim commander Muḥammad b. Qāsim has traveled to Daybul to save a few Muslim prisoners who had been captured by robbers. Upon breaking into the temple and rescuing the prisoners, Ibn Qāsim commands that the prison warden, Qubla, be brought before him and executed. However, Qubla pleads with Ibn Qāsim to spare his life on account of the kindness he has shown toward the prisoners. Ibn Qāsim verifies Qubla’s claim by employing a translator to inquire with the prisoners about their treatment. The translator conveys the prisoners’ affirmation of Qubla’s kind treatment of them. Ibn Qāsim consequently decides to spare Qubla’s life. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria uses this anecdote to show the critical role of translatorsin ensuring that justice was served and to illustrate the trust that that the Muslims of South Asia placed in the capacity of Islamic rulers to mediate between local and foreign languages in the seventh/thirteenth century. Notably, the text appeared after the second or third attack waged by Muslim rulers on the South Asian regions in which they subsequently established dominance.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

This excerpt from Ibn Muqaffaʿ’s Kalila wa-Dimnaprovides insight into his approach to the issue of translation in early Islamic courts. One subplot of the text’s narrative emphasizes the centrality and sensitivity of the role of the translator given his capacity to impact the fate of the accused. In the case at hand, a falconer surreptitiously plants false testimony in his parrots about his master’s wife’s infidelity in revenge for her refusal of his sexual advances. The master hears the parrots chirping the false testimony but fails to understand their meaning because they chirp in a foreign tongue. When he summons his guests to translate the content of the parrots’ song and understands its libelous content he becomes furious, calling the falconer before him and demanding that he, too, translate the parrots’ song. As soon as the falconer does so, a hawk gouges his eyes out as punishment for the false testimony.

In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria analyzes this fable as a representation of the figures in a courtroom: the wife is theaccused; the nobleman is the inquisitorial judge; the parrots are “foreign” plaintiffs with an accusation; the friends are translators; and the falconer is a witness—who later becomes the culprit. In the anecdote, the role of the translator is more that of a mediator than that of a witness. Kooria points out that this depiction of the translator’s role accords with Juwaynī’s argument in his Nihāyat al-maṭlab fī dirāyat al-madhhab.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In his commentary on the legal treatise of his teacher Shāfiʿī, Muzanī (d. 264/878) appears to uphold his teacher’s cautious stance on allowing translation in the courtroom. Following Shāfiʿī verbatim, Muzanī warns of the dangers of litigation in a foreign language and asserts the need for two trustworthy individuals to serve as both translators and witnesses in any case involving a litigant speaking a foreign tongue. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria uses the example of Muzanī to show that Shāfiʿī’s opinion on translation and litigation in a foreign language went almost unchallenged throughout the ninth and tenth centuries.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In this excerpt from his legal treatise, Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) argues that if a qāḍīis approached by a foreigner (ʿajamī) speaking a foreign tongue, he must employ two trustworthy witnesses familiar with the foreigner’s language in order to adjudicate the case. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria points out that with this prescription, the translator assumes a central role, almost taking the part of a witness. Taken as a whole, Shāfiʿī’s argument highlights the dangers of litigation in a foreign language.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

Thomas North’s English translation of Kalila wa-Dimnasuggests that the language from which the falconer translated the false testimony he taught his parrots may have been “Indian.” In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria draws on this and other treatments of the falconer story in Kalīla wa-Dimnato emphasize the crucial role of translation in testimony within the judicial procedures of the Islamic court and to explore the issue of how translation was perceived in the courtroom.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In this excerpt from his treatise on judicial practice, the Shāfiʿī jurist Abū al-Ḥasan al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058) addresses about twenty-five legal issues pertaining to the role of translation and translators in Muslim courts. He then subdivides these issues into four major categories, namely:(1) the legal status of translation, where he investigates the question whether translation should be considered testimony (shahāda) or a simple report (khabar) and outlines the divergence between Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfa on the subject; (2) the status of the translator as the father or son of the litigant or as a woman; (3) the identity of one litigant as a foreigner; and (4) the identity of both litigants as foreigners. Māwardī then derives the eligibility requirements for translators in court from the eligibility requirements for witnesses, implying similarity between the two roles. Māwardī thus concludes that the fathers and sons of litigants may not act as translators in court. Likewise, women’s translation may be used only in monetary lawsuits (iqrār bi-l-amwāl), in which they must also be accompanied by the translation of another woman and a man. Women may not serve as translators in marriage-related cases (iqrār al-ḥudūd wa-l-manākiḥ), with the exception of cases concerning adultery, in which a woman may serve alongside at least three other translators. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria uses this passage to point to a shift in the Shāfiʿī view on the status of translators and testimony, with Mawārdī expanding the Shāfiʿī treatment of this topic considerably.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In his treatise on Shāfiʿī law, Nawawī (d. 676/1277) reaffirms the views of his predecessors Ghazālī andRāfiʿī on translation in early Islamic courts. This excerpt from Nawawī’s treatise focuses on judicial practice more broadly, providing a series of recommendations for the qāḍīfor specific situations, such as when he is appointing a secretary (kātib); the secretary must be Muslim, impartial, acquainted with official reports and records, equipped with clear handwriting, and a qualified translator. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria uses the example of Nawawī to show that the shift in the Shāfiʿī stance regarding the status of translation and non-Arabic speakers in judicial proceedings that was inaugurated by Persian Shāfiʿī’s became an accepted view in the influential work of the Damascene Nawawī in the seventh/thirteenth century.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In these excerpts from the seventh/thirteenth-century literary collection, author ʿAlī b. Ḥāmid b. Abī Bakr al-Kūfī details the process of translating the book from Arabic into Persian(zabān-i Pahlawī) or the “language of the people of the ʿAjam” (lugha-yi ahl-i ʿajam). Kūfī contends that the translation was critical to making the text accessible to “the people of Fārs or other non-Arab countries.” In his chapter on translation and identity in early Islamic courts in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria points to these and other excerpts to suggest that the use of translation to ensure that justice and wisdom prevail plays a prominent role in Kūfī’s text.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In these excerpts, Baghawī provides interpretations of two Quranic verses pertaining to the heavenly court on the Day of Resurrection. Commenting on Q. 39:69 (“The earth will shine with the light of its Lord. . . .”), Baghawī presents reports explaining that God will manifest Himself (yatajallā) and illuminate the “open grounds of resurrection” (ʿaraṣāt al-qiyāma) with His light. Regarding the expression fī ẓulalin min al-ghamāmin Q. 2:210 (“God will come to them in canopies of clouds [fī ẓulalin min al-ghamām]”), Baghawī writes that God is in fact “shrouded in clouds, in ‘something like white fog’ (ka-hayʾat al-ḍabāb, abyaḍ).” He insists that the ẓulalimplied here connotes “canopies” or “awnings,” not “shrouds” or “shadows.” In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to highlight medieval exegetes’ efforts to avoid anthropomorphic interpretations of the Quran by reading verses in abstract terms.

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.

In this excerpt from his work of Quranic exegesis, Baghawī claims, on the authority of Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab and Ḍaḥḥāk, that God’s epithet al-muhayminis interpreted by some to mean “the judge” (al-qāḍī), and he reports that some even consider al-qāḍīone of the beautiful names of God. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to argue that although God is not referred to as qāḍīin the Quran, medieval exegetes regularly identified Him as such in their exegetical works. Lange notes, however, that the inclusion of al-qāḍīamong the divine names did not become standard.

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.

In this text,Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-Balādhurīprovides an earlier account of the anecdote recorded in Kūfī’sFatḥnāma-i Sind aboutIbn Qāsim’s military expedition toDaybul to save Muslim prisoners. A translator figures prominently in the story, intervening to spare the life of the prison warden by translating accounts from the Muslim prisoners attesting to his kindness toward them. In his chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Mahmood Kooria cites this text as an additional source on the anecdote showcasing the important role of translators.

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 sources and other material used in and related to the book.

In this excerpt from his chronicle, Ibn al-Jawzī relates an incident in 530/1135–6 in which a woman was publicly immolated in the central mosque. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange cites this example of punitive burning to make the point that judges viewed their own function in adjudication along lines similar to divine judgment: in spite of the circulation of ḥadīths such as “Only the Lord of Fire punishes with fire,” rulers and judges had no qualms about burning criminals.

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.

In this excerpt, Thaʿlabī claims, on the authority of Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab, that God’s epithet al-muhayminis interpreted by some to mean “the judge” (al-qāḍī); some even consider al-qāḍīone of the beautiful names of God. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source, among others, to argue that although God is not referred to as qāḍīin the Quran, medieval exegetes regularly identified Him as such in their exegetical works. Lange notes, however, that the inclusion of al-qāḍīamong the divine names did not become standard.

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.

In this excerpt, Māwardī, commenting on Q. 50:21 (“Every soul shall come, and with it a driver [sāʾiq] and a witness [shahīd]”), relates a report from Ḍaḥḥāk that explains the sāʾiqas God’s command. As for shahīd, Māwardī addresses the thorny question whether God, being all-knowing, should need witnesses by proposing two interpretations. First, he suggests that the witness (shahīd)is the resurrected themselves; second, he states that the sinner’s own hands and feet are the witnesses that testify against their owner. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to highlight medieval exegetes’ efforts to avoid anthropomorphic interpretations of the Quran by reading verses in abstract terms.

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.

In this excerpt from his biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges, Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī notes that Ibn Jabr, a fourth/tenth-century Egyptian judge, used to hold court on street corners by simply laying out a carpet and forming a gathering around it. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this example to call attention to the indeterminate nature of the spatial organization of the judge’s court in the early centuries of Islam. He further notes that not much can be gleaned from the sources about the places in which the early judges held court.

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.

In this excerpt from his biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges, Kindī mentions a scribe (kātib) in describing an event that took place in the year 105–6/724. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this report in the context of a discussion of Q. 50:21 (“Every soul shall come, and with it a driver [sāʾiq] and a witness [shahīd]”). He reports that the term sāʾiqwas interpreted by some as kātib, and he points out that Kindī’s account shows that the kātibwas already an established functionary of the court by the end of the first century of Islam.

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.

In these excerpts, the exegete Thaʿlabī provides interpretations of several Quranic verses pertaining to the heavenly court on the Day of Resurrection. In his commentary on Q. 39:69 (“The earth will shine with the light of its Lord. . . .”), Thaʿlabī presents reports explaining that God will manifest Himself (yatajallā) and illuminate the “open grounds of resurrection” (ʿaraṣāt al-qiyāma) with His light. In explaining Q. 2:210 (“God will come to them in canopies of clouds [fī ẓulalin min al-ghamām]”), Thaʿlabī cites al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī’s view that God is “inside a cover (fī sutra) of clouds, so that the people of the earth do not look at Him.” As for the expression “God will come to them,” Thaʿlabī notes that God’s “coming” (ityān)refers to “recompense” (al-jazāʾ). Recompense is referred to as “coming” just as how “frightening” (takhwīf) and “punishment” (taʿdhīb) are also referred to as “coming” in the story of Nimrod in Q. 16:26 (“Then God came upon their building from the foundations, and the roof fell down upon them from above, and the punishment came upon them when they were not aware”). In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses these reports to illustrate Muslim exegetes’ conceptions of the heavenly court and the ways in which they sought to explain away potentially anthropomorphic imagery in the Quran.

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.

In this excerpt from his book on the Day of Resurrection, Muḥāsibī describes the scene that will take place on the day itself: the angels surround the judgment scene in rows and the hell-monster Jahannam is seated at the left foot of God’s throne. The Prophet Muḥammad will also be present on the Day of Judgment, interceding for his community. In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to highlight parallels between exegetes’ depiction of the heavenly court and the features of earthly courtrooms. He notes that the placement of Jahannam corresponds to the usual position of the executioner on the left of the ruler’s throne in medieval representations of the royal court.

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.

In this excerpt from his book of admonitions, Qurṭubī deploys a Prophetic ḥadīth, “This is not a reckoning, it’s a [simple] exposure (ʿarḍ),” to explain Q. 84:7–9 (“As for one who is given his book in his right hand, he will be reckoned with an easy reckoning and will return to his people joyful”). In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to highlight the ways in which medieval exegetes sought to avoid anthropomorphic interpretations of the Quran. He also points to Qurṭubī’s efforts to alleviate the concern that even true believers will undergo a reckoning (ḥisāb) as indicated inQ. 84:7–9 by arguing that it is only enemies of God who attempt to engage in disputation (jidāl) in order to evade divine judgment.

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.