The Roles of Muhtasib in Islamic Medieval Urban Management

Abstract

The medieval Islamic cities were described to be systematically managed by the institution of hisba, henceforward, inspiring modern Muslims to revive the Islamic paradigm of urban management. Nevertheless, not much is being discussed on the role of muhtasib as an urban regulator. Furthermore, it has been wrongly understood only as a market inspector. Thus, employing the content analysis approach, this article examines the roles of muhtasib in urban management, based on selected manuals of muhtasib, written during the medieval times. Interestingly, the findings indicate a series of Islamic principles on urban management that match modern urban management, albeit the difference of time. Keywords: Hisba; Urban Management; Medieval Islam; Islamic Civilization eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI5.2947