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Al-Tartib al-Idariyya (The Administrative Arrangements)

التراتيب الإدارية

Al-Tartib al-Idariyya, as presented by Tareq al-Suwaidan: the oldest printed Muslim reference on administration, from the seventh Hijri century, containing job descriptions for state posts from the judge to the army commander.

Depth

At a glance

Review

Politics, governance and authority

Summary

Al-Tartib al-Idariyya, presented by Tareq al-Suwaidan as the oldest printed Muslim reference on administration, written in the seventh Hijri century around 600 AH, and still in print in bookshops 1.

Its contents

Al-Suwaidan explains that its author produced a job description for every post of the state: the judge, his qualities and duties and whom he reports to, the army commander and the other posts — which he takes as proof that the questions of planning and organisation were already settled among Muslims then (needs_source: the author's name is garbled in the transcript) 2. In the same context he mentions that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) built the diwans (ministries) on the Persian system with heavy development of it 3.

People and things also explored

Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)· Ahl al-Hall wa al-Aqd (those who loose and bind: the men of power whose choice confirms the imam)· Ahl al-Mahalla (the people of a quarter, their imam, call to prayer, and their part in the oath and blood money where a body is found)· Islamic management· Experience versus service, and self-development· The nominal group technique· Leadership and the leader's six roles· Situational leadership

Sources

  1. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:17:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  2. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:18:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:18:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Al-Tartib al-Idariyya (The Administrative Arrangements)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/al-tartib-al-idariyya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)

Diwan is a Persian loan-word meaning a collection of sheets and writings, in which the army and those given grants were written; for the jurists it is the register in which the names of those in state service who receive a stipend from the public treasury are recorded, and the office that keeps it. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the first to set up the diwan, according to two accounts. The people of the diwan are of several kinds: soldiers, on conditions that are regulatory, such as puberty, freedom, Islam, health and fitness for fighting; holders of office, such as governors, judges, scholars, collectors, imams and muezzins; and the needy. The Companions differed on preference in distribution: Abu Bakr and Ali made it equal, while Umar and Uthman preferred by precedence in Islam, and Umar added kinship to the Prophet; Abu Hanifa and Ahmad followed the latter view.