Some Coastal towns of Syria during the 11th-12th centuries were headed by local
qadis (judges) who had acquired independence from either Fatimid, Seljuqid, or Byzantine rule. These urban states have been the objects of serious research by such scholars as Cl. Cahen, E. Ashtor, A. Havemann and U. A. Tadmuri. But as for the period when
qadis lost their independence, few references are made to their role in Muslim urban life. The cases of Tripoli and Jabala, because of ample information, may provide us with a means to better our understanding of local
qadis in medieval Islamic societies.
During the years 1066-1070 the
qadi office of Tripoli was established by Amin al-Dawla, a Shi'ite jurist of great reputation, from the 'Ammar family. Jabala also had a wise
qadi named Mansur, who managed the judicial affairs among Muslims under Byzantine rule. His status (
Ra'is Jabala) was inherited by his son, Ibn Sulayha, who maintained independence against the pressure of the Seljuqids until the arrival of the Crusaders. Ibn Sulayha, faced with a strong siege by the Crusaders, was forced to transfer sovereignty to Tripoli; but another
qadi, Ibn al-Naqqar, then continued to manage judicial affairs in Jabala. Even under the Crusader rule from July 1109, Jabala was administered by an influential
qadi named Mansur b. Nabil, who succeeded afterwards in delivering the town to Saladin.
These instances reveal that the
qadis of Tripoli and Jabala managed these municipalities even during the periods when towns lost their independence. We may therefore evaluate positively the role of local
qadis before the Ottoman period, a time when they came to be organized more systematically into that empire's provincial administration.
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