Maalim al-Qurba fi Talab al-Hisba
- Author died
- 729 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Funūn «Cambridge»
Ma'alim al-Qurba fi Talab al-Hisba (also known as Ma'alim al-Qurba fi Ahkam al-Hisba) is a classical manual on the office of the market inspector (muhtasib) and the administration of public order and ethics, written by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Ibn al-Ukhuwwa (648–729 AH / 1250–1329 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
The book is designed as a comprehensive handbook for the muhtasib, the municipal and religious officer charged with commanding right and forbidding wrong (al-amr bi-l-ma'ruf wa-l-nahy 'an al-munkar), inspecting marketplace transactions, preventing fraudulent commercial practices, maintaining public order, and supervising communal religious conduct . In his preface, the author describes the obligation of commanding right and forbidding wrong as the central pillar of the faith and explains that he compiled the legal rulings grounded in Prophetic traditions to serve as an indispensable guide for anyone executing the office of hisba and overseeing public welfare . The text also appears in manuscript copies under alternative titles, including Kitab al-Mahabba wa-l-Raghba fi Ma'rifat Ahkam al-Hisba and al-Qurba fi Ahkam al-Hisba .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into seventy chapters (abwab), each divided into several specific sub-sections (fusal) . It covers both religious and civic matters across various fields:
- Qualifications and general legal framework: Opening chapters define the qualifications of the muhtasib, the rules governing commanding right and forbidding wrong, regulations on non-Muslim subjects (dhimmis), reprehensible transactions, and funeral rites .
- Market supervision and guild crafts: Substantial sections address specific trades and artisan professions, detailing the technical methods of deceit and adulteration practiced in each and the standards required of them. These include inspections of silk merchants, dyers, cotton and flax dealers, money changers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, shoemakers, slave and livestock brokers, and public baths .
- Medical and educational professions: The manual sets out regulations for phlebotomists, cuppers, physicians, oculists, bonesetters, veterinarians, and primary school teachers .
- Religious personnel and governance: Later chapters treat the supervision of mosque caretakers, muezzins, preachers, astrologers, judicial witnesses, legal punishments (hudud and discretionary penalties), judges, and governors .
Sources, Relation to Earlier Literature, and Editions
The text is closely modeled on and incorporates extensive material from Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba by Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr al-Shayzari (d. 6th century AH), reflecting strong textual parallels between the two works .
Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in several collections, including Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya and Cairo University in Cairo, the Fatih and Mulla Chalabi libraries in Istanbul, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the British Museum in London, and the Awqaf Library in Baghdad .
The work was edited with an English translation and notes by Reuben Levy in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series (Cambridge, 1937–1938) . It was subsequently reprinted in Baghdad in 1965, and an edition edited by Muhammad Mahmud Sha'ban and Siddiq Ahmad Isa al-Muti'i was published by the General Egyptian Book Organization (al-Hay'ah al-Misriyyah al-Ammah lil-Kitab) in Cairo in 1976 .
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