The multifaceted role of Andalusian judges through the lens of Al-Muraqaba al-‘Ulya fīman Yastaḥiq al-Qaḍāʾ wa-l-Futyā by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nabāhī

Abstract

This study examines the multifaceted role of Andalusian judges through the lens of Al-Muraqaba al-‘Ulya fīman Yastaḥiq al-Qaḍāʾ wa-l-Futyā by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Nabāhī. It explores their contributions across three key domains: scientific, social, and economic. Scientifically, the judges engaged in teaching, authorship, scholarly travel, and intellectual debate. Socially, they combated heresies and moral corruption, contributed to charitable efforts, supervised endowments and orphan affairs, and promoted virtue through public guidance. Economically, they played a role in regulating markets, managing public resources, and responding to economic crises through religious leadership and legal rulings. The study adopts a narrative-analytical approach and relies primarily on al-Nabāhī’s work, alongside other biographical sources. It concludes that the Andalusian judge was not merely a legal functionary, but a scholar, reformer, and social guide who exercised substantial influence in all aspects of public life.