The Evolution of the Office of Muhtasib in Afghanistan:

A Historical Legal Analysis (1747-2023)

Zabihullah Obaidy

 

Abstract: The current research aims to study the rise and fall of the office of muhtasib as a part of the public administration in Afghanistan. The study first provides a very brief overview of the formation and transformation of the office of muhtasib during Abbasids and theories related to its embedment in the structure of the State bureaucracy. Next, it touches on the evolution of the office of muhtasib since the foundation of a modern Afghanistan state by Ahmad Shah Durrani, by offering a historical legal analysis of the jurisdiction of muhtasib and his duties. Such a study raises an important question regarding the normative foundations of the office muhtasib and how such an office could fit within the structure of public administration in Afghanistan and beyond. In other words, the question is how such an office could fit within the contemporary structure of the public administration in Muslim societies, in the light of theories developed by earlier Muslim scholars. Although the study provides a general explanation to this question, such a question indeed warrants further examinations. Therefore, this piece offers a novel contribution to the field by opening the door for further assessments regarding the normative foundations of the office of muhtasib and its embedment into the body of a State bureaucracy.