In this excerpt from his book on taxation, Abū Yūsuf quotes a letter from the second Rightly Guided Caliph, ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, to the first Umayyad caliph, Muʿāwiya, who was at the time governor of Damascus, advising him regarding his obligations when judging between men. In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow uses ʿUmar’s example to discuss judicial appointments by caliphs.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.