Abū al-ʻAbbās al-Wansharīsī

Part of The Supreme Method and the Pure Source on the Rules of Notarization by al-Wansharisi. Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Wansharisi (, full name: Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAlī al-Wansharīsī or simply known as al-Wansharisi, b. 1430 or 1431 in Ouarsenis, d. 1508 in Fez ) was a Berber Muslim theologian and jurist of the Maliki school around the time of the fall of Granada. He was one of the leading authorities on the issues of Iberian Muslims living under Christian rule.

Biography He was born in the Ouarsenis mountains (, Al-Wansharis) in present-day Algeria, His family moved to Tlemcen when he was a child.

Works His most notable work is al-Mi`yār al-Mughrib ("The Clear Measure and the extraordinary Collection of the Judicial Opinions of the Scholars of Ifrīqiyā, al-Andalus, and the Maghrib"), a multivolume collection of legal opinions (fatwas) and cases (nawāzil) in North Africa and Islamic Spain. consists of 16 chapters about notarization of Islamic legal documents. It includes the requirements and desired characters of a notary public, standards and requirements of an Islamic legal document, as well as notarial topics such as how to correctly date a legal document. an extensive fatwa arguing that it was compulsory for Muslims in Christian-conquered Spain to emigrate to Muslim lands. It was issued in 1491, shortly before the fall of Granada which marks the end of the reconquista. At this point, most of Spain excepting Granada were had been conquered by the Christians, and Muslims had already lived in these territories under Christian rule (such Muslims are also known as mudéjars). In addition to citing the Qur'an, hadith and previous consensus of jurists, he also supported his case with a detailed demonstration of why the mudéjars were unable to properly fulfill a Muslim's ritual obligation.

This fatwa is one of the most preeminent pre-modern legal opinions on Muslims living under non-Muslim rule, although it was issued in the context of Muslims in Iberia and North Africa. In addition to The Most Noble Commerce, he also wrote a shorter companion fatwa, sometimes called the "Marbella fatwa", responding to a question about a man from Marbella in Southern Spain who wished to stay in Christian Spain in order to assist those unable to migrate. These two fatwas were distributed as independent work, and are later included in his collection The Clear Standard.

Al-Wansharisi's position, which emphasised the obligation to emigrate, was the predominant position of the Maliki school at the time. The Oran fatwa, issued in 1504 after the forced conversion in the Crown of Castile, was an exception to this majority opinion, arguing that it may be permissible for Spanish Muslims to stay and even outwardly conform to Christianity, when forced and necessary for survival.