PRIMARY SOURCES
Al-Mukhtār Ibn Aḥmad Ibn Abī Bakr Al-Kuntī Al-Kabīr, Sayyid Author. Letter to the Warring Tribes. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1499, 1300]
In this work, the author, a scholar and religious leader, urges warring factions to make peace and live in peace. He supports his argument with quotations from the Koran and allusions to the practice of Muhammad and his companions, which require the faithful to avoid discord, to reconcile, and to live in peace and tolerance. (LINK)
Certificate of Emancipation for Female Slave. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1726]
“‘Itq Raqīqah” (Certificate of emancipation for female slave) gives a detailed physical description of a woman who is being granted her freedom by her owner. The document is drawn up in the manner prescribed by Islamic law. (LINK)
Bākī Ibn Sayyid Muḥammad Ibn Sayyid Al-Mukhtār Al-Kuntī, Aḥmad Author. The Response of Ahmad al-Bakayi to the Letter of Amir Ahmad, Ruler of Massinah. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1854, 1853]
This document is a reply to the ruler of Massinah (present-day Macina), Amir Ahmad, who ordered the arrest of the noted German explorer Heinrich Barth (1821–65), who was suspected of spying for the British. There are two copies of the work: a shorter version, and a longer version, which incorporates information not given in the shorter. Shown here is the longer version. The author of the reply cites Islamic law in arguing that the arrest is illegal and declines to obey the amir. The scholar states that a non-Muslim entering the domain of Muslims in peace is protected and may not be arrested, have his property confiscated, or to be otherwise hindered. (LINK)
Ahwāzī, Al-Ḥasan Ibn ʻAlī, 973-1054 Or 5 Author. Useful Stories and Verses as Sources for Guidance and Emulation. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1054, 1000]
The ethical conduct of business and government is the subject of the exemplary stories contained in al-Fawā’id wa-al-Qalā’id (Useful stories and verses as sources for guidance and emulation). Abū ‘Alī al-Husn ibn ‘Alī al-Ahwāzī (died 1054) takes particular care to impress upon his readers the necessity of ethical behavior when occupying an official position. (LINK)
Usuman Dan Fodio, Author. The Foundations of Justice for Legal Guardians, Governors, Princes, Meritorious Rulers, and Kings The Administration of Justice for Governors, Princes and the Meritorious Rulers. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1817, 1754]
‘Uthmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Uthmān ibn Fūdī (1754–1817) was a scholar and the founder of the Fulani Sokoto Empire in 1809. In Uṣūl al-‘Adl li-Wulāt al-Amr wa-Ahl al-Faḍl wa-al-Salāṭīn (The foundations of justice for legal guardians, governors, princes, meritorious rulers, and kings) he delineates the authority of governors and rulers and the limits to authority under Islamic law. He particularly calls attention to the need to understand the responsibility of power and its use. The author presents as a ruler’s obligation the provision of social justice and protection of the property of the state’s residents. (LINK)
Fulānī, Aḥmad Ibn Bawḍ Ibn Muḥammad Author. The Beginner’s Guide to Commercial Transactions The Protection of Individuals in Commercial Transactions. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1900, 1800]
This volume delineates the obligations of parties to commercial exchanges and contracts. In Sullam al-Aṭfāl fī Buyū’ al-Ājāl (The beginner’s guide to commercial transactions), Aḥmad ibn Bawḍ ibn Muḥammad al-Fulānī concentrates on sales and how individuals loaning money are to be protected in commercial transactions. His use of verse is an aid to memorizing the text. (LINK)
Tumbukti, Al-Qadi Muhammad Ibn Al-Imam Uthman Al-Wakari Author. Commentary on the Work “Examples of Legal Hypotheses”. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1900, 1500]
Islamic inheritance law is a highly regulated system in which individuals receive legacies depending upon their degree of relationship to the deceased. This work explains that system and elaborates upon its basis in the Qur’an. (LINK)
secondary sources
El-Cheikh, Nadia Maria. “The Qahramâna in the Abbasid Court: Position and Functions.” Studia Islamica, no. 97 (2003): 41–55.
The Abbasid harem was a highly organized social unit. High-ranking administrative officers of the harem enjoyed considerable prestige and influence. One of the most influential female activities involved them in the harems as qahramdnas. This was the harem stewardess, chief of the administrative hierarchy. ‘This paper studies the qahramanas in their role as administrators of the harem and tries to delineate their position and the functions they held. (LINK)
El-Cheikh, Nadia Maria. Women, Islam, and Abbasid Identity.
Through its investigation of how gender and sexuality were used to articulate cultural differences and formulate identities in Abbasid systems of power and thought, Women, Islam, and Abbasid Identity demonstrates the importance of women to the writing of early Islamic history. (LINK)
Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, Renata Holod, Antillio Petruccioli, and André Raymond, eds. The City in the Islamic World (2 vols.), (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 01 Jan. 2008)
The purpose of this book is to draw attention to the sites of life, politics and culture where current and past generations of the Islamic world have made their mark. Unlike many previous volumes dealing with the city in the Islamic world, this one has been expanded not only to include snapshots of historical fabric, but also to deal with the transformation of this fabric into modern and contemporary urban entities. (LINK)