Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1327
حَدَّثَنَا هَنَّادٌ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي عَوْنٍ الثَّقَفِيِّ، عَنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ رِجَالٍ، مِنْ أَصْحَابِ مُعَاذٍ عَنْ مُعَاذٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعَثَ مُعَاذًا إِلَى الْيَمَنِ فَقَالَ " كَيْفَ تَقْضِي " . فَقَالَ أَقْضِي بِمَا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ . قَالَ " فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ " . قَالَ فَبِسُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم . قَالَ " فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " . قَالَ أَجْتَهِدُ رَأْيِي . قَالَ " الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي وَفَّقَ رَسُولَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
The Messenger of Allah sent Muʿādh to Yemen and asked: “How will you judge?” He replied: “By what is in Allah’s Book.” The Prophet asked: “If you do not find it in Allah’s Book?” Muʿādh said: “By the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet asked: “If you do not find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah?” Muʿādh replied: “I will exercise my own judgment.” The Prophet said: “Praise be to Allah, who has guided the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to what pleases the Messenger of Allah.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report describes a sequence of legal reasoning sources in the dialogue between the Prophet and Muʿādh.