Al-KINDI (Mohamed ibn Yusuf).

Kitab al-qoudhat ( the History of the Egyptian Cadis) Together with additions by Abu-al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Burd. The Arabic text, edited from the MS. in the British Museum by Richard J. H. Gottheil. Rome 1908. In-8 half cloth, cover preserved. 213-xlii p. The cadi, judge of the Muslim court, is one of the most emblematic figures of medieval Islam. The ancient Egyptian cadis are known to us thanks to the book devoted to them by the historian al-Kindi (d.961). From the Arab conquest of Egypt around 640 to the arrival of the Tulunids in 868, the author traces the construction of the Egyptian judiciary through the biographies of the first 40 cadis. These portraits bear witness to social relations in early Islamic Egyptian society, to political life and to the evolution of the judicial institution. Torn between local elites attached to their privileges and a caliphal power anxious to impose its authority, the cadis were alternately adored and reviled by their contemporaries. The cadi, the Muslim court judge, is one of the most emblematic figures of medieval Islam. The ancient Egyptian cadis are known to us thanks to the book devoted to them by the historian al-Kindi (d.961). From the Arab conquest of Egypt around 640 to the arrival of the Tulunids in 868, the author traces the construction of the Egyptian judiciary through the biographies of the first 40 cadis. These portraits bear witness to social relations in Egyptian society in the early days of Islam, to political life and to the evolution of the judicial institution. Torn between local elites attached to their privileges and a caliphal power anxious to impose its authority, the cadis were alternately adulated and reviled by their contemporaries.