IBN AL-'ASSĀL. - Arab jurist, who lived in the 13th century in Egypt. To him is owed a compilation of canon and civil law, of the type of those called nomocanons. The collection in question can be placed around 1240; its original title is al-Maḡmū' aṣ-ṣafawī (which means 'The collection of aṣ-Ṣafī').
The material that served for this compilation was in part authentic, in part adulterated. The civil-law part of the collection was drawn predominantly from two compilations of Byzantine Roman law: the Prochiron (v.) and the so-called Syro-Roman Book (v.). The canon-law part, on the other hand, is also formed by texts of Byzantine origin, which are the supposed decrees of the Fathers of Nicaea and precepts of the Old Testament treated in the Christian manner. Mixed into this body of sources were norms of Muslim law of the Mālikī rite.
Perhaps better known than the original text is the poor Ethiopic version of the work, which appeared in the 17th century under the title Fetha Nagast ("The Legislation of the Kings") and which is still held in great esteem in Abyssinia, despite the scant practical applicability of the norms and precepts contained in it.
Bibliography2 worksI. Guidi, Il Fetha Nagast o la Legislazione dei Re, Rome 1899; C. A. Nallino, Libri giuridici bizantini in versioni arabe cristiane del sec.
BIBL.: I. Guidi, Il Fetha Nagast o la Legislazione dei Re, Rome 1899; C. A. Nallino, Libri giuridici bizantini in versioni arabe cristiane del sec. XII-XIII, in Rend. Accademia dei Lincei, cl. scienze mor., 6th series, 1 (1929), pp. 103-11, 144-36.
Rota, Antonio. “Ibn Al-'AssĀL.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, col. 1534. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/ibn-al-assal.
MLA
Rota, Antonio. “Ibn Al-'AssĀL.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 1534. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/ibn-al-assal.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_ibn_al_assal,
author = {Rota, Antonio},
title = {Ibn Al-'AssĀL},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1534},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ibn-al-assal}
}
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