puzzles him, whenever possible. Once the ruling becomes clear, he should pronounce it; if clarity is still lacking, he must postpone the case until it is achieved.

It is forbidden for the judge to adjudicate while gripped by intense anger. According to an agreed-upon hadith, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “A judge must not decide between two people while he is angry.” Anger unsettles the heart and mind, deprives one of full understanding, obstructs careful reflection, and blinds a person to the paths of knowledge and right intention.

Anything that similarly disrupts clear thought takes the same ruling as anger: severe hunger, thirst, deep anxiety, drowsiness, painful cold, oppressive heat, or the urgent need to urinate or defecate. All of these preoccupy the intellect through which one normally arrives at the truth, and thus fall under the same prohibition.

It is likewise unlawful for the judge to accept a bribe. Ibn ʿUmar reported that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—“cursed the briber and the one who takes the bribe.” Al-Tirmidhi declared this hadith sound and authentic.

Bribery is of two kinds:

1. The judge accepts payment from one of the litigants in order to rule for him in falsehood.
2. The judge withholds a rightful judgment from the deserving party until that party pays him. This is among the gravest forms of injustice.