IBN AL-'ASSAL. - An Arab jurist who lived in the 13th century in Egypt. He compiled a collection of canon and civil law, similar to those known as nomenclators. This collection can be dated around 1240; its original title is al-Magmū' as-safawī (which means "The Collection of Assafī").
The material compiled in this work was partly authentic and partly altered. The civil law section of the collection was drawn mainly from two compilations of Byzantine Roman law: PROCHIRO (v.) Book (v.). The canon law section, however, consists of texts of Byzantine origin, including the supposed decrees of the Fathers of Nicaea and precepts from the Old Testament treated in a Christian manner. To this body of sources were added, in an orderly fashion, precepts of Muslim Mālikī law.
Perhaps better known than the original text is the poor epic version of the work that appeared in the 17th century under the title Fetha Nagast («The Legislation of the Kings»), which is still highly esteemed today in Abyssinia, despite the limited practical applicability of its norms and precepts.