Mughal Administration c10.s4.1

c10.s4.1

The *qazi's* business, in strict theory, was to play the part of a jury : he was to take the law from others and pronounce a verdict in the particular case on the basis of the evidence adduced. This expounder of the law was the *mufti*, whom we may rather loosely call the advocate general. "The *mufti* is the officer who expounds and applies the law to cases, and the *qazi* is the officer who gives it operation and effect."* An illiterate man may legally act as a *qazi*, according to all the schools of Muslim law except that of Shafi, because "A *qazi's* business may be to pass decrees merely on the opinions of others. The object of his appointment, moreover, is to render to every subject his just rights, and this object is accomplished by passing decrees on the opinions of others." (*Hedaya*, translated by Hamilton, 2nd edition, 334-335.)