ADMINISTRATIONAt first, Islamic rulers and governors appear to have received com-
plaints during their general public audiences, and it was only during
the Marwiini restoration that a distinct ma:r,iilim court was reconsti-
tuted. 'Abd al-Malik is considered to be the first Commander of the
Faithful to hold a ma:r,iilim court on particular days, during which his
qiitjt presided somewhat like the Sasanian mobadh.^210 Immediately
after the reoccupation of Iraq by 'Abd al-Malik, ash-Sha'bi (64011-
721123), who is otherwise known as a qiitjt at Kufa, is said to have
been in charge of the ma:r,iilim court for the brother of the Commander
of the Faithful, Bishr ibn Marwiin, who was governor of Iraq from
690 until 693.^211 AI-1:Iajjiij held public audiences in the evening for
this purpose. On one such occasion, the father of Muwarriq al-'Ijli,
whose son had been imprisoned, entered along with the other peti-
tioners in order to obtain the release of his son. His request was
granted, and al-1:Iajjiij ordered his officers to "take that old man to
the prison and turn his son over to him. "212
The Sasanian tradition survived in Islamic administrative theory as
well. Abii Yiisuf advised the Commander of the Faithful, Hiiriin ar-
Rashid (786-809) to hold a ma:r,iilim court every month or two or at
least annually in order to give his subjects recourse to 'him, and so the
fear of judicial review would act as a check on oppression by his
officials.^213 As it was enshrined in the administrative theory of al-
Miiwardi in the eleventh century, the holding of a ma:r,iilim court
required the presence of guards, qiitjts, scribes, and witnesses, and the
abuses of governors, tax collectors, and scribes were to be dealt with
first. Then the court was to turn its attention to arrears of pay, the
return of objects which had been taken by force, the supervision of
religious endowments (Ar. awqiif), and the execution of the sentences
of qiitjts. It should also be concerned with the supervision of public
order, the regulation of religious practices, and finally, the provision
of arbitration in private cases.^214 Thus, the theory of the ma:r,iilim
court was expanded to include most of the purposes of public audi-
ences and was probably more developed in theory than it ever was in
practice.^215
210 Mawardi, Ahkiim as-sultiiniyya, p. 74.
211 E. Tyan, Histoire de l'organisation judiciaire en pays d'Islam (Leiden, 1960), pp.
515, 518-19.
212Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(1), 157.
213 Abii Yiisuf, Khariij, p. 170.
214 Mawardi, A~kiim as-su#iin;yya, pp. 76-79.
215 For a detailed comparison of the ma;iilim court with Sasanian practice, see Tyan,
Organization judiciaire, pp. 519-20.