Justice and Islamic Law

Mazalim Courts and Legal Reform

By: Jonathan A.C. Brown

Narrated by: David Williamson

What do you do when divine law and the justice demanded by your conscience clash? Muslims have wrestled with this problem since the earliest caliphates. The mazalim courts, dating back to the eighth century, were the answer: courts where any subject could appeal directly to an Islamic ruler regarding any matter of justice. Mazalim courts, which were not bound by the rulings of an established school of Islamic law, could address crises in authority and order that Sharia courts could not. Bestselling author Jonathan A. C. Brown unveils the history of mazalim courts, analyzes the political, legal, and theological thought of its tradition and contends that mazalim courts did not oppose or transcend Sharia, but operated within its limits.

©2026 Jonathan A.C. Brown