Al-Mawardi's Theory of the Caliphate

Al-Mawardi's work on the Ordinances of Goverment, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyah, is too well known among Islamic scholars and in Muslim political circles to require any introduction. ¹ Since the revival of interest in the caliphate it has been generally accepted as the most authoritative exposition of the Sunni Islamic political theory, ² and indeed the existence of other works on the subject is frequently ignored. Yet in spite of its reputation, no attempt has been made to situate the work in its own setting. This task involves an investigation into three things: the reasons for its compilation, al-Mawardi's sources and the use which he makes of them, and the reception of his work by the scholars of his own and succeeding generations. To discuss the subject fully would outrun the limits of an essay, and I propose only to treat in outline the first and second questions, with reference to the chapter on the caliphate and to the section of the third chapter which deals with the “Amirate by Seizure.”