This is a confused and confusing book. The subtitle clearly suggests that the monograph is a study of Nisab al-Ihtisab, a treatise on hisba written by the subcontinental Hanafite jurist Sunami. It turns out, however, that the monograph is for the most part a disappointing translation, with an even more disappointing short Introduction, which hardly constitutes a study. The first and longest section (eight pages of the Introduction) raises a number of questions about authorship, all of which are answered in a cursory and far less than satisfactory manner. The sections that follow, all of which are very short, deal with Sunami's education, social milieu, and presentation of the text. Thereafter, in the space of no more than two pages, the “value of the work” is considered, and this is followed by a chronological list of “known hisba treatises.” The issue of theory and practice, implicitly raised in the title, is addressed in fewer than two pages, and poorly at that, considering how fundamental an issue this is. In sum, little in this Introduction constitutes, properly speaking, a study of the text. At best, it provides background information about the treatise and its author, although it does so in a not altogether organized, thorough, or systematic fashion.