Administrative tradition and civil jurisdiction of the Cordobán ṣāḥib al-aḥkām (II)

Abstract

Using court cases from Ibn Sahl’s judicial decisions collection al-Aḥkām al-Kubrà as well as data from biographical and historical sources, the present article examines both history and jurisdiction of the «police and market inspector» {ṣāḥib al-šurṭa wa-l-sūq) in Cordoba. During the taifa period, this Umayyad expression gave way to the «inspector of judgements» {sāḥib al-aḥkām). Through a wide range of more than twenty cases between the years 456/1064 and 464/1072, it is demonstrated how this non-qāḍī judge adhered to procedural and substantive law as interpreted by Mālikī fiqh.