1207 – ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When two men bring their case before you, do not rule in favor of the first until you have listened to the statement of the other; only then will you know how to judge.” ʿAlī added: “After that I never ceased to act as a judge.”

The hadith was recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan, while Ibn al-Madīnī declared it strong and Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it (1).

It also has a corroborating report in al-Ḥākim from the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās (2).

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Hadith grading:
This narration is ḥasan (sound).
The author states: It was transmitted by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan. Ibn al-Madīnī strengthened it, saying, “It is a Kūfan tradition and its isnād is acceptable,” and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it ṣaḥīḥ. The hadith has been reported through several chains, the best of which is Bazzār’s route from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Salamah, from ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him). In that chain appears ʿUmar ibn Abī al-Miqdām, and there is disagreement regarding ʿAmr ibn Murrah: Shuʿbah narrated it from him on the authority of Abū al-Bukhturī, who said, “Someone who heard ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) related it to me.”

Abū Yaʿlā also recorded it, and its isnād would be sound were it not for this suspect narrator.

It possesses other routes that support it, and it is further corroborated by what al-Ḥākim related from ʿAlī: he said, “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched me to Yemen and said, ‘When the two litigants sit before you, do not pass judgment…’”