and analogical reasoning. For Allah commands justice in judgment, and justice may be discerned through reasoned opinion or through scriptural texts.

For this reason, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When a judge exercises independent judgment and reaches the correct decision, he receives two rewards; when he exercises independent judgment and errs, he receives one reward.” A judge’s aim is to judge justly to the best of his ability. Whenever full justice is unattainable because knowing or implementing it is impossible or unduly difficult, what is required is the closest and best approximation to it: the justice within one’s capacity.

This is a broad field, encompassing judgments concerning bloodshed, property, and other kinds of litigation in which judges exercise independent judgment.

We know that ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, was more skilled in adjudication than others because of the understanding he had been granted in these matters, even though he and others alike had heard the scriptural texts.

Many people have supposed that newly devised reasoned opinion is needed only because they encounter numerous questions and substantial subsidiary issues that they cannot bring within the scope of the scriptural texts, as is found