Tahrir al-Ahkam fi Tadbir Ahl al-Islam
- Author died
- 733 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Thaqāfah bi-tafwīḍ min Riʾāsat al-Maḥākim al-Sharʿiyyah bi-Qaṭar
Tahrir al-Ahkam fi Tadbir Ahl al-Islam (The Clarification of Rulings on the Governance of the People of Islam) is a legal treatise on governance, public administration, and warfare by the Shafi'i jurist and chief judge Badr al-Din Ibn Jama'ah (639–733 AH / 1241–1333 CE) .
Attribution and Scope
The work belongs to the genre of Islamic public law and governance (al-siyasah al-shar'iyyah and al-ahkam al-sultaniyyah), addressing the constitutional, administrative, military, and financial structures of the Islamic state . Haji Khalifa noted in Kashf al-Zunun that some bibliographers confused its author with 'Izz al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Jama'ah (d. 819 AH), confirming that the work was authored by Badr al-Din Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd Allah ibn Jama'ah . In some biographical bibliographies, it is also recorded under the variant title Tahrir al-Ahkam fi Tadbir Jaysh al-Islam .
Structure and Contents
The treatise is organized in a single volume consisting of seventeen chapters (abwab):
- The Obligation of the Imamate (Fi wujub al-imamah), examining the necessity of leadership, the qualifications required of the ruler, and the conditions of investiture .
- Rights and Duties of the Ruler (Fi ma lil-khalifah wa-l-sultan wa-ma 'alayh), detailing mutual obligations, including ten rights owed by the ruler to the subjects and ten rights owed by the subjects to the ruler, foremost among which is obedience in that which is not a disobedience to God .
- The Vizierate (Fi al-wizarah) .
- Commanders and Emirs (Fi al-umara') .
- Safeguarding Legal Regulations (Fi hifz al-awda' al-shar'iyyah) .
- The Armies and Soldiers (Fi al-ajnad) .
- Stipends and Military Allowances (Fi al-'ata') .
- Public Offices and Administrative Functions (Fi al-waza'if) .
- Cavalry and Weaponry (Fi al-khayl wa-l-silah) .
- The Administrative Bureau (Fi al-diwan) .
- Jihad (Fi al-jihad) .
- The Conduct and Rules of War (Fi kayfiyyatih) .
- Spoils of War (Fi al-ghanimah) .
- The Division of Spoils (Fi qismatiha) .
- Truces and Safe-Conduct (Fi al-hudnah wa-l-aman) .
- Suppressing Rebels (Fi qital al-bughah) .
- The Pact of Protection for Non-Muslim Subjects (Fi 'aqd al-dhimmah wa-ahkamih wa-ma yajib bi-iltizamih), outlining the rules and obligations binding upon protected non-Muslim populations .
In his treatment of constitutional law, Ibn Jama'ah addressed pragmatic governance challenges, asserting that if multiple candidates meet the conditions of leadership, the electors (ahl al-hall wa-l-'aqd) must select the one most beneficial for the community; if one is more learned while another is braver, priority is given to the one whose attribute best serves the prevailing conditions of the era .
Modern Studies and Editions
The text was edited and studied by 'Abd al-Majid Mu'adh in 1395 AH (1975 CE) as a doctoral dissertation . It was subsequently edited by Fu'ad 'Abd al-Mun'im Ahmad and published in 1403 AH by Dar al-Thaqafah .
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