Al-Ahkam As-Sultaniyyah: The Laws of Islamic Governance

Al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah is both the single most comprehensive account of the workings of Islamic governance and equally a highly influential theoretical outline of the nature of that governance. It is also as it were a snapshot of the inner workings of Abbasid power' at its height. Woven throughout it are the accounts of the first community of Islam and the judgements of the early scholars of the salaf which are the book's lifeblood and its light.

The Author Abu'I-Hasan al-Mawardi (d. 450 AH) was a practising Qadi whose excellent judgement earned him the soubriquet "The Most Judicious of Qadis". Given that the role of Qadi far exceeds that of "judge" the author was well placed to describe the workings of power from within. Along with that, his excellence as a scholar allowed him to produce a work which is one of the undoubted classics of Islam.