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Imam Al-Awzai and his humanitarian ideas (707-774)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Ameur Zemmali
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Extract

Mention of Abd-ar-Rahman Al-Awzai (707-774), the Imam of the people of Syria, is found in many ancient Arabic texts such as Ibn an-Nadim's al-Fihrist and Ibn Abi Hatem ar-Razi's al-Jorh wa at Taâdil. More recent texts include the work on Al-Awzai by Dr. Sobhi Mahmassani on Al-Awzai (Beirut, 1978). This article gives a brief account of Al-Awzai's life and several of his ideas on the relationship between those who govern and those who are governed, and especially his contribution to the branch of learning of the siyar or the law of war.

Type
The Origins of International Humanitarian Law
Information
International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 30 , Issue 275 , April 1990 , pp. 115 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1990

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Footnotes

*

This text is the author's adaptation of the original article in Arabic which appeared in the International Review of the Red Cross, Arabic edition, No. 4, November-December 1988.

References

1 imam: title reserved for Muslim scholars who attain a high level of erudition in Islamic studies. In classical doctrine this term also applies to the leader of the Islamic community. In a narrower sense it denotes the person who leads the ritual prayer.

2 siyar: (plural of sira; code of conduct, biography). The term was originally used for all literature relating to the life of the Prophet and his behaviour during his expeditions. It has now taken on the connotation of studies of the law of war in Islam and of “Islamic law of nations” in general.

3 fiqh: understanding, intelligence in general. In a specific sense, this term denotes Islamic law. A Faqih (plural fuqaha) is a specialist of the fiqh, or doctor of Islamic law. In Sunni Islam, there are four recognized schools of law or juridical rites: – the Hanafi school, which takes its name from Abu-Hanifah (699–767) and developed in Kufah (Iraq);

– the Maliki school founded by Imam Malik Ibn Anas of Medina (713–795);

– the Shafi'i school named after Imam Shafi'i (born in Gaza in 767, died in Egypt in 819);

– the Hanbali school founded by Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (780–855) in Bagdad.

4 ra'y in Bagdad: independent opinion, doctrinal effort (to determine the law) based on independent opinion.

5 Hadith: sayings, comments. In Islamic terminology the name given to the traditional narrative record of the Prophet's sayings, acts or precepts.

6 See note 3 supra.

7 People of the Book, (ahl al-Kitab): those who possess the Holy Scripts, i.e. the Jews and Christians who dwell among the Muslims and enjoy the protection (dhimma) of the Islamic community. The term dhimmi means a person protected by the dhimma.

8 fuqaha: see note 3 supra.

9 Abu-Yusuf (731–798), a disciple of Abu-Hanifah and one of the founders of the school that bears his mentor's name.

10 Shaybani (748–804), another great disciple of Abu-Hanifah and founder of his school.

11 Published by Schacht, J., Leyden, 1933.Google Scholar

12 Abu-Bakr: first caliph of Islam (632–634).

13 “If thou fearest treachery from any group, throw back (their Covenant) to them, (so as to be) on equal terms; for God loveth not the treacherous”, Surah VIII (Spoils of War), Verse 58, the Koran.

14 aman: security, protection, safe-conduct, promise of protection.

15 The Sunna, or tradition of the Prophet, is the second source of the Islamic legal order.

16 fetwa: legal opinion formulated by a faqih on a specific subject. The mufti is the authority who issues such an opinion.