The Title of the Book

The author did not give his book a title in the introduction, as was his practice in most of his works, for he neither attached importance to this nor concerned himself with it. The book’s title does, however, appear in other sources. These sources broadly agree on its basic wording, with minor differences between them. We shall mention the versions we have found and select the one we consider closest.

1 — It is entitled Sharia Governance in Reforming the Ruler and the Ruled in al-Uqūd al-Durriyya (1) and Mukhtasar Tabaqāt Ulamā al-Hadīth (2), both by his pupil Ibn Abd al-Hādī (d. 744 AH), as well as in a biographical work on the author by al-Dhahabī (3). The same title appears on the manuscripts bearing the sigla (Fā, Sīn, Yā, Zāy, and al-Azhar manuscript 8793). It likewise appears in Kashf al-Zunūn (4) and Hadiyyat al-Ārifīn (5).

This is the title we have selected as the book’s formal designation.

2 — In Asmā Muallafāt Ibn Taymiyya (6), by his pupil Ibn Rushayyiq (749), it is entitled Sharia Governance for Reforming the Ruler and the Ruled. It is the same as the preceding title, with only a slight change