Judgments (Ahkaam)
كتاب الأحكام
Chapter 1: “Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those of you who are in authority…”
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whoever obeys me, obeys Allah, and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah, and whoever obeys the ruler I appoint, obeys me, and whoever disobeys him, disobeys me."
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Surely! Everyone of you is a guardian and is responsible for his charges: The Imam (ruler) of the people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects; a man is the guardian of his family (household) and is responsible for his subjects; a woman is the guardian of her husband's home and of his children and is responsible for them; and the slave of a man is a guardian of his master's property and is responsible for it. Surely, everyone of you is a guardian and responsible for his charges."
Chapter 2: The rulers from the Quraish
That while he was included in a delegation of Quraish staying with Muawiya, Muawiya heard that `Abdullah bin `Amr had said that there would be a king from Qahtan tribe, whereupon he became very angry. He stood up, and after glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, said, "To proceed, I have come to know that some of you men are narrating things which are neither in Allah's Book, nor has been mentioned by Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) . Such people are the ignorant among you. Beware of such vain desires that mislead those who have them. I have heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saying, 'This matter (of the caliphate) will remain with the Quraish, and none will rebel against them, but Allah will throw him down on his face as long as they stick to the rules and regulations of the religion (Islam).'"
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "This matter (caliphate) will remain with the Quraish even if only two of them were still existing."
Chapter 3: The reward of judging according to Al-Hikmah
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Do not wish to be like anyone, except in two cases: (1) A man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it righteously. (2) A man whom Allah has given wisdom (knowledge of the Qur'an and the Hadith) and he acts according to it and teaches it to others."
Chapter 4: To listen to and obey the Imam
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "You should listen to and obey, your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian (black) slave whose head looks like a raisin."
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If somebody sees his Muslim ruler doing something he disapproves of, he should be patient, for whoever becomes separate from the Muslim group even for a span and then dies, he will die as those who died in the Pre-lslamic period of ignorance (as rebellious sinners). (See Hadith No. 176 and 177)
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A Muslim has to listen to and obey (the order of his ruler) whether he likes it or not, as long as his orders involve not one in disobedience (to Allah), but if an act of disobedience (to Allah) is imposed one should not listen to it or obey it. (See Hadith No. 203, Vol. 4)
The Prophet (ﷺ) sent an army unit (for some campaign) and appointed a man from the Ansar as its commander and ordered them (the soldiers) to obey him. (During the campaign) he became angry with them and said, "Didn't the Prophet (ﷺ) order you to obey me?" They said, "Yes." He said, "I order you to collect wood and make a fire and then throw yourselves into it." So they collected wood and made a fire, but when they were about to throw themselves into, it they started looking at each other, and some of them said, "We followed the Prophet (ﷺ) to escape from the fire. How should we enter it now?" So while they were in that state, the fire extinguished and their commander's anger abated. The event was mentioned to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said, "If they had entered it (the fire) they would never have come out of it, for obedience is required only in what is good." (See Hadith No. 629. Vol. 5)
Chapter 5: Allah will surely help him in ruling who….
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "O `Abdur-Rahman! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand then you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking (for it), then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then you should expiate your oath and do what is better."
Chapter 6: He who seeks to be a ruler will be held responsible
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O `Abdur-Rahman bin Samura! Do not seek to be a ruler, for if you are given authority on your demand, you will be held responsible for it, but if you are given it without asking for it, then you will be helped (by Allah) in it. If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then do what is better and make expiation for your oath."
Chapter 7: What is disliked regarding the authority of ruling
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You people will be keen to have the authority of ruling which will be a thing of regret for you on the Day of Resurrection. What an excellent wet nurse it is, yet what a bad weaning one it is!"
Two men from my tribe and I entered upon the Prophet. One of the two men said to the Prophet, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Appoint me as a governor," and so did the second. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "We do not assign the authority of ruling to those who ask for it, nor to those who are keen to have it."
Chapter 8: The ruler not ruling in an honest manner
I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Any man whom Allah has given the authority of ruling some people and he does not look after them in an honest manner, will never feel even the smell of Paradise."
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "If any ruler having the authority to rule Muslim subjects dies while he is deceiving them, Allah will forbid Paradise for him."
Chapter 9: Causing people troubles and difficulties
I saw Safwan and Jundab and Safwan's companions when Jundab was advising. They said, "Did you hear something from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" Jundab said, "I heard him saying, 'Whoever does a good deed in order to show off, Allah will expose his intentions on the Day of Resurrection (before the people), and whoever puts the people into difficulties, Allah will put him into difficulties on the Day of Resurrection.'" The people said (to Jundab), "Advise us." He said, "The first thing of the human body to purify is the `Abdomen, so he who can eat nothing but good food (Halal and earned lawfully) should do so, and he who does as much as he can that nothing intervene between him and Paradise by not shedding even a handful of blood, (i.e. murdering) should do so."
Chapter 10: To give judgements and legal opinions on the road
While the Prophet (ﷺ) and I were coming out of the mosque, a man met us outside the gate. The man said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! When will be the Hour?" The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "What have you prepared for it?" The man became afraid and ashamed and then said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I haven't prepared for it much of fasts, prayers or charitable gifts but I love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will be with the one whom you love."
Chapter 11: There was no gatekeeper for the Prophet (saws)
Anas bin Malik said to a woman of his family, "Do you know such-and-such a woman?" She replied, "Yes." He said, "The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by her while she was weeping over a grave, and he said to her, 'Be afraid of Allah and be patient.' The woman said (to the Prophet). 'Go away from me, for you do not know my calamity.'" Anas added, "The Prophet (ﷺ) left her and proceeded. A man passed by her and asked her, 'What has Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to you?' She replied, 'I did not recognize him.' The man said, 'He was Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)."' Anas added, "So that woman came to the gate of the Prophet (ﷺ) and she did not find a gate-keeper there, and she said, 'O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! By Allah. I did not recognize you!' The Prophet said, 'No doubt, patience is at the first stroke of a calamity.'"
Chapter 12: A governor can sentence to death a person without consulting the Imam
Qais bin Sa`d was to the Prophet (ﷺ) like a chief police officer to an Amir (chief).