How should the judge organize the judicial records (sijill and mahzar)?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Judiciary

Book 62 · Issue 18 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

The judge writes two copies of the sijill and mahzar: one remains with the right-holder, and the other remains in the judicial archive (diwan al-hukm). If one copy is lost, the other substitutes for it. The copy in the archive is sealed, and its fold is inscribed with: 'Sijill of [Name],' or 'Mahzar of [Name],' or 'Document of [Name].' If the volume is large, what accumulates daily, weekly, or monthly—according to its volume and scarcity—is bound together, and the binding is labeled: 'Week [Number], of Month [Number], of Year [Number].' Then, what accumulates annually is gathered, kept aside, and labeled: 'Written in Year [Number].' This facilitates retrieval when someone requests something from a specific year.