al-Mawardi

Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Mawardi (c. 364 AH / 974 CE - 450 AH / 1058 CE) was a leading jurist of the Shafi'i madhhab (one of Sunni Islam's four schools of law) and a pioneering theorist of Islamic government. He was born in Basra, in southern Iraq, and studied law there and then in Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, where sources name the Shafi'i master Abu Hamid al-Isfara'ini among his teachers. After holding judgeships in several provinces - tradition associates him with districts in the Khurasan region of eastern Iran - he settled in Baghdad, where he spent the bulk of his long career.

There the caliph honored him with the title aqda al-qudat ("most able of judges"), a distinction reportedly criticized by some scholars who held that no human should bear so absolute a name. He also served as an envoy for the caliphs al-Qadir and al-Qa'im in delicate negotiations with the Buyid emirs - the Shia dynasty that then controlled Baghdad - and, as Buyid power gave way to the Seljuks, with the new Turkic rulers.

His most influential book, al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya ("The Ordinances of Government"), set out a theory of the caliphate, the appointment of officials, and the duties of judges and governors; it remains a touchstone in the study of Sunni political thought. He also composed al-Hawi al-Kabir, a multi-volume manual of Shafi'i law, a Qur'an commentary, and works of ethics and counsel for rulers. He died in Baghdad and was buried there.