Muhtasib

This article is about the traditional Islamic inspector of bazaars and trade. For overview of the duty to enjoin good and forbid wrong in Islam, see Hisbah. For the general duty of all Muslims to enjoin good and forbid wrong and scholarly study of the duty, see Enjoining good and forbidding wrong.
"Muhtasib weighs the bread", from the Rålamb Costume Book, 1657

A muḥtasib (Arabic: محتسب, from the root حسبة ḥisbah, or "accountability"[1]) was "a holder of the office of al-hisbah in classical Islamic administrations", according to Oxford Islamic Studies.[2] Also called ‘amil al-suq or sahib al-suq,[3] the muḥtasib was a supervisor of bazaars and trade, the inspector of public places and behavior in towns in the medieval Islamic countries, appointed by the sultan, imam, or other political authority. His duty was to ensure that public business was conducted in accordance with the law of sharia.

Hisbah, the office and root of muḥtasib, is an Islamic doctrine referring to "enjoining good and forbidding wrong" of shariah law, and "by extension, to the maintenance of public law and order and supervising market transactions".[4] But whether muḥtasibs devoted themselves to hisbah frequently or vigorously in every region of the Muslim world, or focused instead on the orderly function of the marketplace, regulating weights, money, prices (though sometimes collecting bribes), is disputed.[5]

  1. ^ Sami Zubaida (2005), Law and Power in the Islamic World, ISBN 978-1850439349, pages 58-60
  2. ^ "Muhtasib". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 2 September 2021.[dead link‍]
  3. ^ Mottahedeh, Roy; Stilt, Kristen (Fall 2003). "Public and Private as Viewed through the Work of the Muhtasib". Social Research: An International Quarterly. 70 (3): 735–748. doi:10.1353/sor.2003.0036. ISSN 1944-768X. S2CID 55354657. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Hisbah". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 19 July 2021.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Floor-1985 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).