<span class='italic'>‘The Treatise of Refutation of those who Criticise [Our] Conduct’ (</span>Kitāb al-Radd ʿalā man Ṭaʿana fī l-Sīra<span class='italic'>) Attributed to Imām al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh, Aḥmad b. Sulaymān (d. 566/1170)</span>

doi:10.1017/9781009031783.013

Chapter 10 - ‘The Treatise of Refutation of those who Criticise [Our] Conduct’ (Kitāb al-Radd ʿalā man Ṭaʿana fī l-Sīra) Attributed to Imām al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh, Aḥmad b. Sulaymān (d. 566/1170)

from Part II - Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) and Related Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2024

Eirik Hovden

Edited by

Omar Anchassi and

Robert Gleave

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Omar Anchassi: Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave: Affiliation:
University of Exeter

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Summary

This chapter discusses a treatise written by the Zaydī Imam al-Mutawakkil Bi-llāh Aḥmad b. Sulaymān (r. 532-566/1137-1170) or his judge Jaʿfar b. Aḥmad b. Abī Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 573/1177-8) defending the Imam’s conduct on a range of issues which had attracted the vocal criticism of his opponents, particular the group known as the Muṭarrifiyya. Firstly, the treatise seeks to justify hiring ‘immoral’ military forces in a just war; in this case, non-Zaydī, nominally Ismāʿīlī or Sunnī, tribal forces, against fellow Zaydīs. Secondly, the treatise seeks to justify the use of violence as means to collect the maʿūna, a type of religiously justifiable war contribution tax. Relying on non-Zaydī mercenaries against his own Zaydī subjects, and seizing the war tax by force, engendered profound disagreement, sparking off criticism that required a comprehensive response.

Keywords

Obligatory religious charity (zakā)Taxation Imamate Zaydism Biographical texts and campaigns (pl. siyar).

Type: Chapter
Information: Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 106 - 120

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031783.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2024

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