Machine summary:
It was a special department of the government supervised and directed by its one particular officer designated Khazin al-Mal or Sahib al-Makhzun 2 and the provincial treasurer was called 1, Ibn al-Qutiyah, Tarikb ljtitah al-Andalus, 69/54-5 tr; Gayangos, the Mohammadan Dynasties in Spain, II, 117; Ribera, Aljoxani, pp, 113, 114;.
Ibn 'Abdun, a Spanish Muhtasib of the r rth century, says : "The treasury of a pious foundation (Bayt al-Mal al-Muslimin) should be kept in a mosque well guarded and locked.
Salmah al-Kalbi of Cahra, the Chief Qadi of Cordova during the time of' Abd Allah, says, "Al-Nadr was the qadi until he was appointed by the Amir as the inspector of the Bayt Mal-al-Muslimin (Public Treasury of the Muslims) kept in the Jami' Mosque of Cordova.
"11 The same author states in another context, ''When Musa Ibn Muhammad was appointed qadi he be• came reckless with the money which, according to the religious laws, was at his disposal, viz.
Fahd as the Chief Qadi of Cordova, the Cordovans came up to the gate of the palace and demonstrated against such _an appointment saying, "If this fellow were appointed he would misuse the money meant for the poor, because his greed and eagerness for the wordly goods would surely lead him to appropriate the waqf properties set apart by us for the pcor.
The Muslim state of Spain had also the system of central and provincial Bayt al· Mal (Public Treasury), which probably played the part of agricul• tural and commercial banks as in the East, but we have no information to support this theory.