1203 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever undertakes the office of judge has been slaughtered without a knife.” Recorded by Ahmad and the Four, and declared authentic by Ibn Khuzaymah and Ibn Ḥibbān (1).

Degree of authenticity
This ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ. It appears in the Sunan collections; al-Tirmidhī graded it “good,” while al-Dāraquṭnī, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Ḥibbān judged it authentic. Al-Ḥākim and al-Bayhaqī also narrated it on the authority of Abu Hurayrah through several chains. Al-Dāraquṭnī noted a disagreement in its transmission from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, stating that the sound version is Saʿīd al-Maqburī from Abu Hurayrah. Ibn al-Jawzī criticized the report, claiming it is unsound, yet al-Nasāʾī strengthened it by including it in his collection, as Ibn Ḥajar observed. Al-ʿIrāqī affirmed that its isnād is authentic, and al-Suyūṭī likewise graded it sound in al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr.

Points of benefit

1. The ḥadith underscores the grave danger inherent in the judiciary, for the judge rules over people’s lives, honor, property, and every other right. The peril is immense because the judge may incline toward one litigant over another—due to kinship, friendship, the litigant’s prestige and position, deference to his status, fear of his authority, or hope for some favor or benefit. Only the one whom Allah protects and who overcomes his personal inclinations is safe. The danger is truly great; we ask Allah for well-being.