the prescribed punishment or stoning. They said: This therefore did not fall within the meaning of the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “If I award anyone anything belonging by right to his brother, he must not take any of it.” They further argued: Do you not see that if witnesses testify against someone concerning marriage or divorce, and the judge rules against him accordingly, he may not refuse to comply? Judgment may validly be passed against him on the witnesses’ testimony, and he must submit to it. The separation effected by the outward ruling thus applies in relation to everyone, including the witness and anyone else. They advance many other arguments on this matter, but these are unsound. The correct position is that held by Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on them both, and those who agree with them.
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It is recommended that the judge sit to hear cases in the open areas outside the mosque, though he is free to sit elsewhere, so that Jews, Christians, and the weak can reach him. This is also more conducive to humility. He should not have jurists sit alongside him during his judicial sessions, but should consult them after leaving his seat of judgment. This is how ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb dealt with the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is Ibn Habīb’s position in al-Wādihah.
Ashhab recommended that the judge hear cases only in the presence of scholars, so that any error in his ruling might be corrected immediately, before it is carried into effect and can no longer be reversed—unless he fears that their presence will make him tongue-tied, or that he will be distracted by them and by his apprehension of them. This is also the view preferred by Ibn al-Mawwāz. A judge should not decide between two disputants when he is so irritated, angry, hungry, or troubled that he fears his understanding may become slow or deficient. If any of these conditions is mild and does not impair his understanding, there is no harm in his judging while experiencing it.
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The judge must strive to treat the two disputants before him justly: they should sit at an equal distance from him, and he should give them equal attention. Scholars have discussed judicial conduct and the standards judges must observe in themselves and their assistants, treating these matters at length in their books. This spares us the need to set them out here. The letter of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī is a foundational text on judicial rulings; it should therefore be memorized and studied carefully. It reads:
“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful. From Allah’s servant ʿUmar, Commander of the Faithful, to