HISBA

The Arabic term hisba (or in later works ihtisab) is associated with the idea of "reckoning" or "accounting" and has, in works of Islamic law, come to refer to the activities of state-appointed individuals (usually termed muhtasib) who enforce the law of Islam (the shari˓a) in both the public and private spheres. The function is normally conceived of as more preventative than remedial: the muhtasib's task is to prevent transgressions of the law, and thereby avoid the need for court proceedings. However, he does have the power to bring individuals before a judge (qadi) if they fail to take heed of the hisba regulations. Most works of law from the twelfth century onward contain some discussion of the role of the muhtasib, often in the section dealing with the role and functions of the qadi. While enforcing hisba ("bringing people to account") is conceived of in these works as the role of an appointed person, it is recognized that this person is merely performing the general duty (to which all Muslims are bound) of "promoting good and prohibiting evil" (al-amr bil-ma˓ruf walnahy ˓an al-munkar). This is a Qur˒anic phrase (e.g., 3:104 and 9:61), and linking it with the doctrine of hisba (which is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur˒an) gives hisba (and its institutional manifestations) a firm grounding in the Qur˒an.

Works that describe the function of hisba in Muslim society are often highly theoretical, and depict what might be termed an "ideal" law-enforcement system for an Islamic community. The works open with a discussion of the various meanings of hisba and ihtisab, followed by discrete chapters on various activities that a muhtasib is supposed to prevent, and finally a description of the powers of a muhtasib and his relationship with the judicial system. The list of activities considered forbidden, and therefore coming under the muhtasib's power, are often an interesting indicator of local religious life in the area where the work was written. The muhtasib is recommended to restrict the playing of chess or backgammon in various works, and in the Indian sub-continent works, Muslims visiting the temples of Hindus is specifically mentioned as a reprehensible practice. Works written in the western parts of the Muslim world, such as al-Hisba fil-Islam by Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), mention the visitation of Muslims to tombs of the shaykhs in search of intercession, as a practice needing to be restricted by the muhtasib. Works of hisba, then, despite their appearance as theoretical, also provide an insight into medieval Muslim practices (many of which have been left unrecorded elsewhere) since the more literate scholars demanded that such practices be restricted.

The theory was translated into practice by the appointment of local muhtasibs in various parts of the Abbasid empire. After the Mongol invasions and the reemergence of Muslim dynasties in Turkey, Iran, and India, the position of muhtasib and the enforcement of hisba also reappeared. Local muhstasibs were charged with enforcing hisba in towns and cities across the Muslim world. One particular emphasis was the role of the muhtasib in ensuring that market law was obeyed, and official documents regularly refer to such a figure. In some parts of the Muslim world, the muhtasib was responsible solely for ensuring that traders used the correct weights and measures. In this role of restricting unscrupulous merchants, some muhtasibs gained a reputation as protectors of the poor. The institution only died out with the introduction of more organized police forces and administrative ministries in the nineteenth century.

See alsoEthics and Social Issues ; Law ; Political Organization .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amedroz, H. F. "The Hisba Jurisdiction in the Ahkam Sultaniyya of Mawardi." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1916): 290–301.

Sergeant, R. B. "A Zaidi Manual of Hisbah from the 3rd Century (H)." In Studies in Arabic History and Civilisation. Edited by R. B. Sergeant. London: Variorum Reprints, 1981.

Robert Gleave