Judgments (Ahkaam)
كتاب الأحكام
Chapter 25: To appoint the Maula as judges and officials
Salim, the freed salve of Abu Hudhaifa used to lead in prayer the early Muhajirin (emigrants) and the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Quba mosque. Among those (who used to pray behind him) were Abu Bakr, `Umar, Abu Salama, and Amir bin Rabi`a.
Chapter 26: ‘Urafa appointed to look after the people
Marwan bin Al-Hakam and Al-Miswar bin Makhrama told him that when the Muslims were permitted to set free the captives of Hawazin, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "I do not know who amongst you has agreed (to it) and who has not. Go back so that your 'Urafa' may submit your decision to us." So the people returned and their 'Urafa' talked to them and then came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and told him that the people had given their consent happily and permitted (their captives to be freed).
Chapter 27: Praising the Sultan and saying differently after leaving him
Some people said to Ibn `Umar, "When we enter upon our ruler(s) we say in their praise what is contrary to what we say when we leave them." Ibn `Umar said, "We used to consider this as hypocrisy."
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)s said, "The worst of all mankind is the double-faced one, who comes to some people with one face and to others, with another face."
Chapter 28: Judgement against an absent person
Hind (bint `Utba) said to the Prophet (ﷺ) "Abu Sufyan is a miserly man and I need to take some money of his wealth." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Take reasonably what is sufficient for you and your children "
Chapter 29: Whoever is given the right of his brother through a judicial decision
(the wife of the Prophet) Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) heard some people quarreling at the door of his dwelling, so he went out to them and said, "I am only a human being, and litigants with cases of dispute come to me, and someone of you may happen to be more eloquent (in presenting his case) than the other, whereby I may consider that he is truthful and pass a judgment in his favor. If ever I pass a judgment in favor of somebody whereby he takes a Muslim's right unjustly, then whatever he takes is nothing but a piece of Fire, and it is up to him to take or leave."
(the wife of the Prophet) `Utba bin Abi Waqqas said to his brother Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas, "The son of the slave girl of Zam`a is from me, so take him into your custody." So in the year of Conquest of Mecca, Sa`d took him and said. (This is) my brother's son whom my brother has asked me to take into my custody." `Abd bin Zam`a got up before him and said, (He is) my brother and the son of the slave girl of my father, and was born on my father's bed." So they both submitted their case before Allah's Apostle. Sa`d said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! This boy is the son of my brother and he entrusted him to me." `Abd bin Zam`a said, "This boy is my brother and the son of the slave girl of my father, and was born on the bed of my father." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The boy is for you, O `Abd bin Zam`a!" Then Allah's Apostle further said, "The child is for the owner of the bed, and the stone is for the adulterer," He then said to Sauda bint Zam`a, "Veil (screen) yourself before him," when he saw the child's resemblance to `Utba. The boy did not see her again till he met Allah.
Chapter 30: Judgement regarding cases involving wells, etc.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If somebody on the demand of a judge takes an oath to grab (a Muslim's) property and he is liar in it, he will meet Allah Who will be angry with him". So Allah revealed,:-- 'Verily! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant and their oaths..' (3.77) 'Al- Ashath came while `Abdullah was narrating (this) to the people. Al-Ashath said, "This verse was revealed regarding me and another man with whom I had a quarrel about a well. The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to me), "Do you have any evidence?' I replied, 'No.' He said, 'Let your opponent take an oath.' I said: I am sure he would take a (false) oath." Thereupon it was revealed: 'Verily! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant....' (3.77) (See Hadith No. 72, Vol 6).
Chapter 31: To judge cases involving wealth
The Prophet (ﷺ) heard the voices of some people quarreling near his gate, so he went to them and said, "I am only a human being and litigants with cases of disputes come to me, and maybe one of them presents his case eloquently in a more convincing and impressive way than the other, and I give my verdict in his favor thinking he is truthful. So if I give a Muslim's right to another (by mistake), then that (property) is a piece of Fire, which is up to him to take it or leave it." (See Hadith No. 281 )
Chapter 32: Selling people’s estates by the ruler on their behalf
The Prophet (ﷺ) came to know that one of his companions had given the promise of freeing his slave after his death, but as he had no other property than that slave, the Prophet (ﷺ) sold that slave for 800 dirhams and sent the price to him.
Chapter 33: Slanders made by ignorant people against the Amirs
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) sent an army unit headed by Usama bin Zaid and the people criticized his leadership. The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to the people), "If you are criticizing his leadership now, then you used to criticize his father's leadership before. By Allah, he (Usama's father) deserved the leadership and used to be one of the most beloved persons to me, and now his son (Usama) is one of the most beloved persons to me after him. " (See Hadith No. 745, Vol. 5)
Chapter 34: The most quarrelsome person of the opponents
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The most hated person in the sight of Allah, is the most quarrelsome person."
Chapter 35: If a judge passes an unjust judgement
The Prophet (ﷺ) sent (an army unit under the command of) Khalid bin Al-Walid to fight against the tribe of Bani Jadhima and those people could not express themselves by saying, "Aslamna," but they said, "Saba'na! Saba'na! " Khalid kept on killing some of them and taking some others as captives, and he gave a captive to everyone of us and ordered everyone of us to kill his captive. I said, "By Allah, I shall not kill my captive and none of my companions shall kill his captive!" Then we mentioned that to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said, "O Allah! I am free from what Khalid bin Al-Walid has done," and repeated it twice.
Chapter 36: The Imam going to establish peace among people
There was some quarrel (sighting) among Bani `Amr, and when this news reached the Prophet, he offered the Zuhr prayer and went to establish peace among them. In the meantime the time of `Asr prayer was due, Bilal pronounced the Adhan and then the Iqama for the prayer and requested Abu Bakr (to lead the prayer) and Abu Bakr went forward. The Prophet (ﷺ) arrived while Abu Bakr was still praying. He entered the rows of praying people till he stood behind Abu Bakr in the (first) row. The people started clapping, and it was the habit of Abu Bakr that whenever he stood for prayer, he never glanced side-ways till he had finished it, but when Abu Bakr observed that the clapping was not coming to an end, he looked and saw the Prophet (ﷺ) standing behind him. The Prophet (ﷺ) beckoned him to carry on by waving his hand. Abu Bakr stood there for a while, thanking Allah for the saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) and then he retreated, taking his steps backwards. When the Prophet saw that, he went ahead and led the people in prayer. When he finished the prayer, he said, "O Abu Bakr! What prevented you from carrying on with the prayer after I beckoned you to do so?" Abu Bakr replied, "It does not befit the son of Abi Quhafa to lead the Prophet (ﷺ) in prayer." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said to the people, "If some problem arises during prayers, then the men should say, Subhan Allah!; and the women should clap." (See Hadith No. 652, Vol. 1)
Chapter 37: It is desirable that a scribe should be honest and wise
Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while `Umar was sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), `Umar has come to my and said, 'A great number of Qaris of the Holy Qur'an were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Qur'an may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost. Therefore I consider it advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qur'an collected.' I said, 'How dare I do something which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not do?' `Umar said, By Allah, it is something beneficial.' `Umar kept on pressing me for that till Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest of `Umar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as `Umar had." Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), "You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). So you should search for the fragmentary scripts of the Qur'an and collect it (in one Book)." Zaid further said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a mountain among the mountains from one place to another it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. Then I said (to `Umar and Abu Bakr), "How can you do something which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did not do?" Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, it is something beneficial." Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and `Umar, and I had in that matter, the same opinion as theirs. So I started compiling the Qur'an by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qur'an). I found the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: ("Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves--' (9.128-129) ) from Khuza`ima or Abi Khuza`ima and I added to it the rest of the Sura. The manuscripts of the Qur'an remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then it remained with `Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and then with Hafsa bint `Umar.
Chapter 38: The writing of a letter by the ruler to representatives and by judge to workers
Sahl bin Abi Hathma and some great men of his tribe said, `Abdullah bin 'Sahl and Muhaiyisa went out to Khaibar as they were struck with poverty and difficult living conditions. Then Muhaiyisa was informed that `Abdullah had been killed and thrown in a pit or a spring. Muhaiyisa went to the Jews and said, "By Allah, you have killed my companion." The Jews said, "By Allah, we have not killed him." Muhaiyisa then came back to his people and told them the story. He, his elder brother Huwaiyisa and `Abdur-Rahman bin Sahl came (to the Prophet) and he who had been at Khaibar, proceeded to speak, but the Prophet (ﷺ) said to Muhaiyisa, "The eldest! The eldest!" meaning, "Let the eldest of you speak." So Huwaiyisa spoke first and then Muhaiyisa. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Jews should either pay the blood money of your (deceased) companion or be ready for war." After that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) wrote a letter to the Jews in that respect, and they wrote that they had not killed him. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to Huwaiyisa, Muhaiyisa and `Abdur-Rahman, "Can you take an oath by which you will be entitled to take the blood money?" They said, "No." He said (to them), "Shall we ask the Jews to take an oath before you?" They replied, "But the Jews are not Muslims." So Allah's Apostle gave them one-hundred she-camels as blood money from himself. Sahl added: When those she-camels were made to enter the house, one of them kicked me with its leg.
Chapter 39: To send one man only to manage certain affairs
A bedouin came and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Judge between us according to Allah's Book (Laws)." His opponent stood up and said, "He has said the truth, so judge between us according to Allah's Laws." The bedouin said, "My son was a laborer for this man and committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people said to me, 'Your son is to be stoned to death,' so I ransomed my son for one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious learned men and they said to me, 'Your son has to receive one hundred lashes plus one year of exile.' " The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I shall judge between you according to Allah's Book (Laws)! As for the slave girl and the sheep, it shall be returned to you, and your son shall receive one-hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. O you, Unais!" The Prophet (ﷺ) addressed some man, "Go in the morning to the wife of this man and stone her to death." So Unais went to her the next morning and stoned her to death.
Chapter 40: The translators of a ruler
Abu Jamra said, "I was an interpreter between Ibn 'Abbas and the people." Some people said, "A ruler should have two interpreters."
That Abu Sufyan bin Harb told him that Heraclius had called him along with the members of a Quraish caravan and then said to his interpreter, "Tell them that I want to ask this (Abu Sufyan) a question, and if he tries to tell me a lie, they should contradict him." Then Abu Sufyan mentioned the whole narration and said that Heraclius said to the inter Peter, "Say to him (Abu Sufyan), 'If what you say is true, then he (the Prophet) will take over the place underneath my two feet.' "
Chapter 41: The ruler calling his employees to account
The Prophet (ﷺ) employed Ibn Al-Utbiyya to collect Zakat from Bani Sulaim, and when he returned (with the money) to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) the Prophet (ﷺ) called him to account, and he said, "This (amount) is for you, and this was given to me as a present." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Why don't you stay at your father's house or your mother's house to see whether you will be given gifts or not, if you are telling the truth?" Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood up and addressed the people, and after glorifying and praising Allah, he said: Amma Ba'du (then after) I employ some men from among you for some job which Allah has placed in my charge, and then one of you comes to me and says, 'This (amount) is for you and this is a gift given to me.' Why doesn't he stay at the house of his father or the house of his mother and see whether he will be given gifts or not if he was telling the truth by Allah, none of you takes anything of it (i.e., Zakat) for himself (Hisham added: unlawfully) but he will meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection carrying it on his neck! I do not want to see any of you carrying a grunting camel or a mooing cow or a bleating sheep on meeting Allah." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) raised both his hands till I saw the whiteness of his armpits, and said, "(No doubt)! Haven't I conveyed Allah's Message!"