xxxiv P R E L I M I N A R Y
fucceffor of Hadee, the famous H aroon al R asheed, to the dignity
of Kdzee al Kazdt * , or fupreme civil magiftrate, being the firft who ever
filled that important ftation. T o him was in a great meafure owing the
introduction of regular forms into the adminiftration of juftice. Before
his time the appellations of Kdzee and Mooftee were little ufed, or indiscriminately
bellowed, upon all whofe knowledge or abilities enabled them
to pronounce the law, or determine upon cafes ; all matters of difpute being
decided among the Arabs in a Summary way, by appeal to the chief of the
tribe, or to the Imdm of the city or diftridt. A t his recommendation
courts of judicature were inftituted for the foie purpofe of hearing and
determining caufes, he himfelf prefiding in the principal or fupreme tribunal,
which was eftablilhed in the city of the Khctlif and to which all
others were Subordinate. A particular drefs was alfo appointed for the
doctors of the law, together with other infgnia, calculated to add an exterior
dignity and importance to the juridical profeffion. Though he
differs, in a variety o f his decifions, from his great mailer Haneefa,
yet he generally profelfed to be guided by his opinion, and brought his
dodtrines much into efteem in Irak and Perfta.— He not only acquired a
high 'degree of fame by his legal knowledge, but alfo employed it moll
fuccefsfully in the advancement of his temporal intereft, amaffing, in the
fpace of a few years, a very confiderable fortune.— He is reported to have
been a perfon of great acutenefs, ready wit, and prompt in expedients,
o f which a remarkable inllance is recorded in the Negdr'flan, whereby
he obtained, in one night, fees to the amount of 50,000 gold deenars +.
He died at Bagdad, A. H. 182,
ImAm A boo A bdoola M OH AM M ED Bin Hoosain a l Sheibclnee
(commonly called Imdm Mohammed) was born at W eft, a city of Ara*
Literally, “ Judge o f Judges.” T h e office was fon^what analogous to that of a High
'Chancellor ox C h ief Juftice^
“t See Introduction to Richardfon’s Dictionary, vol. I. p, xlviii. T h e value of the Deenat
is fo very indefinite, (being eflimated, in different countries, at various rates, from y s. fo
9 s. 6 d.) that it is impoffible to ftate the fterling amount o f the fum here mentioned with pre-
ciflon.— I t is from 18 to 25,0601.
hlan
bian Irik , A. H. 132. He ftudied under Haneefa, along with A boo
Y oosaf, and afterwards fuperintended an academy or college in Bagdad.
He acquired much fame by his extenfive and accurate knowledge of the
traditions; and was deputed, by the ATM;/Haroon a l R asheed, to fu-
perintend the adminiftration of juftice in the province of Khorafan. He was'
not more eager in his thirft after knowledge, than liberal in the encouragement
and fupport of it, having fpent a large patrimonial fortune in
the purfuit of fcience, and in rewards to its profeflors. He fpent three
years of his youth under the tuition of Malik ; and to the tindture he
received from that dodtor it is perhaps owing that he not only frequently
diffents from the opinions of his chief preceptor Haneefa, but alfo, m
fome inftances, from thofe of his fellow pupil A boo Y oosaf.— Shafei, in
his Ofool, mentions him with much refped.— He died at Rat, the capital
of Khorafan, (where his monument is ftill to be feen,) A .H . 179.
A boo al Hazl Z IF F E R B in Hazl was a contemporary and intimate
companion of Haneefa, and one of the moft auftere perfons of that fedt.
—W e have not been able to collect any other particulars concerning the
character of this dodtor, further than the remarkable retention o f his
memory, which particularly qualified him for excelling in traditional
knowledge. He was appointed chief judge and governor o f Bafra, at
which place he died, A. H. 158.
T he books principally cited in the Heddya are the Mabfoot, the Jama
Sagheer, the Jama Kabeer, the Zeeaddt, the Nawadir, and the commentary
of Kadooree. T h e Mabfoot or AmplifiedDige/l (which is alfo, by way of
pre-eminence, entitled the AJl, or root) was compofed by A boo l Hasm
A li B in Mohammed, who is intitled Fakhral-IJldm, or the glory o f the
fa ith , and furnamed Bezdavee, from the place of his birth, Bezda, a fort
in Mavera/ne'r.— This great work was publifhed about A . H. 460, and
was intitled, by its author, a Mabfoot, or Amplifed D igejl, becaufe of its being
written in rather a diffufive ftyle, the term literally meaning fpread out.
It confifts o f eleven volumes, and comprehends a complete courfe of
V ol. I. e . theology