Four main gates (other than posterns or late openings) led into the great Alhambra enclosure. The first and most important one, on the southwestern side, is the Bab al-Shari`ah, the Gate of Justice, or more precisely, the Gate of Law, dated by an inscription of 1348. It is unusual in several ways. Its peculiar projection and the fact that the formal doorway with the official foundation inscription is perpendicular to the wall may be explained by the sloping terrain on which it was built, but other features are more difficult to interpret. One is the deep porch placed in front of the entry, as though some ceremony took place there. The ceremonial character of the monument is further emphasized by several architectural and decorative details. For instance the interior, with its two turns, contains three different kinds of vault: an elongated cross vault, a cupola, then three traditional cross vaults. It is almost as though the architect or the patron sought to show off his technical versatility.
On the front of the building a hand was carved on the keystone of the arch, while a key with a cord appears on the center of the inner archway, and the Muslim profession of faith was carved on the handsome capitals of the engaged columns framing the door. The first two of these symbols are not altogether clear, and became a subject of debate as early as in Théophile Gautier's description; and the occurrence of the formal "There is no God but God; Muhammad is His Prophet; there is no force or power except in God" is rare on gates to fortresses, especially when independent of the dedicatory inscription. Finally, if it is correct to assume that the outer walls of the Alhambra belong to the latter part of the thirteenth century, this gate, with its formal inscription, its unusual name and construction, and its decoration, must have been a fourteenth-century addition of Yusuf I with apparently very specific symbolic and functional purposes. Much has been made of its name, the Gate of Islamic Law, and some have argued that it was the place where justice was meted out.
