the livestock for whatever damage his animals cause at night. The manner of compensation, however, differs from Solomon’s ruling, for he ruled that the owner of the crops should recover from the livestock’s offspring and milk the equivalent of what his crops would customarily have yielded. As for David’s ruling, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it may be interpreted in a way consistent with our law. He awarded the sheep to the owner of the crops; it is possible that the value of the crops, allowing for their prospects and risks, equalled or exceeded the value of the sheep, and that their owner had no other property.

It is related from Ibn ‘Abbās and Ibn Mas‘ūd that they said: Two men came before David—may Allah bless our Prophet and him and grant them both peace—one owning crops and the other sheep. The owner of the crops said, “O Prophet of Allah, this man let his sheep loose among my crops at night, and they left me nothing.” David told him, “Go; all the sheep are yours.” Such was David’s ruling. The owner of the sheep then went to Solomon and told him what David had ruled. Solomon went in to David and said, “O Prophet of Allah, the proper ruling is other than the one you have given.” He asked, “How so?” Solomon said, “The owner of the crops knows what they yield each year. He is therefore entitled to sell the sheep’s offspring, wool, and hair until he has recovered the value of his crops, since the sheep produce offspring every year.” David told him, “You are right; the ruling shall be as you have judged.” This is the meaning of His words:

“We gave Solomon understanding of it.” [al-Anbiyā’: 79]

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The words of Allah, Exalted is He, “We gave Solomon understanding of it” [al-Anbiyā’: 79], do not prove that Solomon reached the truth in Allah’s sight through this ruling while David missed it, as maintained by those who hold that only one position is correct and that a jurist exercising independent judgment is charged only with seeking the truth, not with attaining it. Rather, the verse contains evidence that each man’s ruling was right in Allah’s sight in his own case, for He, Exalted is He, says:

“To each We gave judgment and knowledge.” [al-Anbiyā’: 79]

Someone who errs in a judgment cannot be described as having been given judgment and knowledge. This question must be established through certainty and knowledge, not through a preponderance of probability. It is therefore invalid to argue for a position on it from apparent textual meanings that admit of more than one interpretation. The position of the exacting scholars is that every jurist exercising independent judgment is correct. This is the sound position, and no contrary position is valid, because Allah, Exalted is He, has bound the jurist to act according to his independent judgment. He is therefore commanded to judge by it and to declare things lawful