Muhammad al-Mawardi: “On Qadis”

Questions for Further Study

• 1.: Compare Al-Mawardi’s “On Qadis” with other Mirrors for Princes literature, including Niccolò Machiavelli’s treatise The Prince and Nizam al-Mulk’s Book of Government; or, Rules for Kings. How are the documents similar? How do they differ? How does each reflect the political realities of the time and place they were written?
• 2.: Why do you think different schools of jurisprudence developed in Islam? What social, political, and historical factors might have accounted for differing interpretations of Islamic law?
• 3.: In the Western tradition, jurisprudence is generally thought to be a matter entirely separate from religion. In Islam the two are closely related, almost to the extent of being one and the same. Why?
• 4.: How did “On Qadis” reflect the role and position of women in Islamic society at that time? Did it advance or diminish the position of women? Explain.
• 5.: Why do some modern movements such as Hizb ut-Tahrir find Al-Mawardi’s work appealing after nearly a thousand years?