mazalim

{{Short description|Abbasid government institution}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name = Mazalim

| type = Abbasid Government Institution

| nativename_a =

| logo = File:Abbasid banner.svg

| logo_width = 200px

| logo_caption = Flag of Abbasid dynasty

| seal =

| seal_width =

| seal_caption =

| formed = Late eighth century

| dissolved = Thirteenth century

| jurisdiction = Caliphate

| headquarters = {{plainlist|

• Baghdad
• Samarra}}

| employees =

| chief1_name =

| chief1_position = Abbasid Caliphs

}}

Al-Maẓālim ({{langx|ar|المظالم|al-maẓālim|injustices, grievances}}) were an ancient pre-Islamic institution that was adopted by the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth century CE. The main purpose of the maẓālim courts was to give ordinary people redress.{{cite book | last=Duindam | first=J. | last2=Harries | first2=J.D. | last3=Humfress | first3=C. | last4=Nimrod | first4=H. | title=Law and Empire: Ideas, Practices, Actors | publisher=Brill | series=Rulers & Elites | year=2013 | isbn=978-90-04-24951-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfKZAAAAQBAJ | access-date=2023-07-19 | page=40 |quote=the mazalim tribunals were an ancient institution that was adopted by the ʿabbasids in the eighth century. Its main purpose was to enable ordinary subjects to complain about the administrative elite of the empire.}} Al-Maẓālim, or the sultan's court, was distinguished from the shurṭa or police courts.{{cite book | last=Vikør | first=K.S. | title=Between God and the Sultan: A History of Islamic Law | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-19-522398-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9d7Jw8c5v4C | access-date=2023-07-19 | page=191|quote=group them into two main types recognized by the adab literature: mazalim, or the sultan's court, and shurta, police courts.}}