“Thus in response to the person to whom my obedience is due in this affair, I have made known
to him the madhhabs of the fuqaha' so that he sees both that his rights are respected and that his
duties are fulfilled and that he honors the dictates of justice in their execution and aspires to
equity in establishing his claims and in the fulfilment of others' claims.”
Al-Mawardi, referring to the caliph in the
preface of Al-Ahkām As-Ṣulṭāniyyah