the actual truth, it would not be lawful for that person to take what he was awarded, even if the judge were the foremost of all mankind, first and last. Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, Umm Salama reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“You bring your disputes before me, and some of you may present their case more eloquently than others, so I rule in their favor according to what I hear. If I award anyone something that rightfully belongs to his brother, he must not take it, for I am only allotting him a piece of the Fire.”

Here is the foremost of judges, rulers, and kings saying: “If I award someone something he knows he is not entitled to, he must not take it.” The Muslims unanimously agree that a judge’s ruling concerning ownership as such has no effect on the underlying reality. Thus, if he awarded Zayd property belonging to ʿAmr, exercising independent legal judgment and earnestly seeking the truth, it would still not be lawful for Zayd to take it.

As for “contracts and their dissolution”—such as a ruling establishing a marriage, a divorce, a sale, or the rescission of a sale—there is a well-known disagreement. The majority hold that these rulings likewise have no effect on the underlying reality. This is a well-known issue. All this concerns a learned and just judge who has ruled on a worldly matter.

“Judges are of three kinds,” as reported in the Sunan collections from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said:

“Judges are of three kinds: two are in the Fire and one is in Paradise. A man who knows the truth and judges accordingly is in Paradise. A man who judges between people without knowledge is in the Fire. A man who knows the truth but rules contrary to it is in the Fire.”

Even when a judge who belongs among the people of Paradise awards someone something that the recipient knows is not rightfully his, it is unlawful for him to take it, according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the consensus of the Muslims. What, then, if he rules on matters of religion over which he has no authority to adjudicate? In such matters, he is merely one Muslim among others: if he has knowledge, he may speak; otherwise, he must remain silent;