A Critical Edition of Burhan al-Din al-Fazari's Risalah fi Sihhat Ijara al- Iqta

Abstract

The present study consists of a critical edition of Burhan al-Din al-Fazari's -one of the Shafiite Islamic scholars of the 8/14. century- Risalah fi sihhat ijara al- iqta. The concept of iqta has followed a continuous line of change and development throughout the history of Islam. The type of iqta mentioned by the author, who lived in Mamluk Damascus, is the assignment of income-generating real estate that belongs to the public treasury (bayt al-mal) to military officers in exchange for the service they provided. This type of iqta was also known as "military iqta". One of the main debates between the jurists related to this type of iqta is about the ability of the military officers (muqta) to lease these lands. This issue was directly related to whether the military officers had the right of usufruct of the property or not. As far as can be determined, the first scholars expressing their opinion are Muhyi al-Din al-Nawawi (676/1277) and Taj al-Din al-Fazari (690/1291), the father of the mentioned author. The first opinion is positive and the second one is negative. Our author, who agrees with his father, wrote this treatise to defend the negative view. In this respect, this is the only known independent study written by scholars who hold the negative opinion. According to the author, the iqta alone does not establish for the assignee (muqta') rights of property or usufruct on the granted real estate; it only has the meaning of ibaha, that is, it provides a limited right of use. Therefore, it was not appropriate for the muqta' to lease the real estate unless he had a special permission from the Imam. This is because one cannot assign an interest that one does not own to someone else. The only copy of the work that is the subject of this study is in Kutubhane-i Umumi-i Ayetullah Mar'ashi in Iran. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.