The Book Al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah is both the single most comprehensive account of the workings of Islamic governance and equally a highly influential theoretical outline of the nature of that governance. It is also as if it were a snapshot of the inner workings of Abbasid power at its height. Woven throughout it are accounts of the scholars of the salaf which are the book's lifeblood, and its light. The Author: Abu'l Hasan al-Mawardi (d. 450AH) was a practising Qadi whose excellent judgment earned him the soubriquet 'The Most Judicious of Qadis '. Given that the role of the Qadi far exceeds that of judge, the author was well placed to describe the workings of power from within. Along with that, his excellence as a scholar allowed him to produce a work which is one of the undoubted classics of Islam. The Translator: Dr. Asadullah Yate attained a Phd from Cambridge with his dissertation on ibn Rushd as a Jurist. He has succeeded admirably in translating this work accurately and in making it entirely readable.