This book deals with an Ayyubid-Mamluk Egyptian jurist's attempt to come to terms with the potential conflict between power, represented in the state, and authority, represented in the schools of law, particularly where one school enjoys a privileged status with the state.

It deals with the history of the relationship between the schools of law, particularly in Mamluk Egypt, in the context of the running history of Islamic law from the formative period during which ijtihad was the dominant hegemony into the post-formative period during which taqlid came to dominate. It also deals with the internal structure and operation of the madhhab, as the sole repository of legal authority.

Finally, the book includes a discussion of the limits of law and the legal process, the former imposing limits on the legal jurisdiction of the jurists and schools, the latter imposing limits on the executive authority of the state.