The Office of the Judge (Kitab Al-Aqdiyah)

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever is appointed as a judge has been slaughtered without a knife.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever is appointed as a judge among people has been slaughtered without a knife.

Buraydah ibn al-Hasib reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: Judges are of three kinds: one will be in Paradise and two in Hell. The one in Paradise is a man who knows the truth and judges accordingly. A man who knows the truth but acts unjustly in his judgment will be in Hell. A man who judges for people out of ignorance will be in Hell. Abu Dawud said: The soundest report on this subject is the report of Ibn Buraydah, Judges are of three kinds.

Amr ibn al-As reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: When a judge exercises independent reasoning and reaches the right decision, he has two rewards; when he exercises independent reasoning and errs, he has one reward. I related this to Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, who said: Abu Salamah related it to me from Abu Hurayrah in the same way.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever seeks judicial office among the Muslims and obtains it, then whose justice outweighs his injustice, will enter Paradise; but whoever has more injustice than justice will enter Hell.

Ibn Abbas said concerning the verses, Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, those are the disbelievers, through those are the defiantly disobedient: These three verses were revealed specifically about the Jews, concerning Qurayzah and al-Nadir.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Bishr al-Ansari al-Azraq said: Two men from the gates of Kindah came in while Abu Masud al-Ansari sat in a circle. They asked: Is there someone who will arbitrate between us? A man in the circle said: I will. Abu Masud took a handful of pebbles and threw them at him, saying: Stop! Hurrying to judge was disliked.

Anas ibn Malik reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: Whoever seeks judicial office and solicits help to obtain it will be left to manage it on his own. Whoever neither seeks it nor asks for help to obtain it, Allah will send an angel to guide him aright. Waki said: It was also transmitted by Israil, from Abd al-Ala, from Bilal ibn Abi Musa, from Anas, from the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Awanah said: From Abd al-Ala, from Bilal ibn Mirdas al-Fazari, from Khaythamah al-Basri, from Anas.

Abu Burdah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: We will not appoint to our work anyone who seeks it. The transmitter was unsure whether the wording was we will never appoint or we do not appoint.

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the briber and the one who takes a bribe.

Adi ibn Umayrah al-Kindi reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: People, whoever among you is appointed to work for us and conceals from us even a needle or anything greater has committed a breach of trust, which he will bring on the Day of Resurrection. A dark-complexioned man from the Ansar stood, as though I can see him, and said: Messenger of Allah, release me from your work. He asked: Why? The man said: I heard you say such-and-such. The Prophet ﷺ replied: I say it again: Whoever we appoint to a position must bring everything, little or much. Whatever he is given, he may take; whatever he is forbidden, he must refrain from.

Ali, may peace be upon him, reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Yemen as a judge. I said: Messenger of Allah, are you sending me while I am young and do not know how to judge? He replied: Allah will guide your heart and steady your tongue. When the two disputants sit before you, do not rule until you have heard the other as you heard the first; that is more likely to clarify the judgment for you. Ali said: I continued to serve as a judge, or he said: I never afterward doubted a judgment.

Umm Salamah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: I am only a human being, and you bring your disputes to me. Perhaps one of you is more persuasive in presenting his case than another, so I rule for him according to what I hear. If I award anyone something that rightfully belongs to his brother, he must not take it, for I have only granted him a piece of the Fire.

Umm Salamah reported: Two men came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ disputing over an inheritance, with no proof beyond their claims. He said something similar to the preceding report. They both wept, and each said: My right is yours. He told them: Since you have done this, divide it between you, seek what is right, then draw lots and each of you release the other from any claim.

Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, concerning two men disputing over inheritance and old matters: I judge between you by my own judgment in matters about which no revelation has come to me.

Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said from the pulpit: People, the judgment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was correct because Allah showed it to him. Our judgments are only conjecture and exertion.

Muadh ibn Muadh said: Abu Uthman al-Shami told me—his name was Hariz ibn Uthman—and I do not think I have ever seen a Syrian better than him.

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ruled that the two disputants should sit before the judge.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah reported from his father, who wrote to his son that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: A judge must not rule between two people while angry.