the Bedouins according to their inherited precedents, which are customs, just as the Tatars judge according to the “Yāsiq,” which they customarily follow. As for people of faith, Islam, knowledge, and religious devotion, they judge only according to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, as Allah Most High says:

“But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge in their disputes, then find within themselves no resistance to your judgment and submit completely.”

And Allah Most High says:

“Is it the judgment of the age of ignorance they seek? And who is better than Allah in judgment for people who are certain?”

Allah, glorified be He, did not deem the judgment of one person sufficient between spouses when discord is feared between them, since it is not known which of them is at fault and there is no evidence to establish this. Rather, He commanded the appointment of two arbitrators who must not be open to suspicion of bias: one from the husband’s family and one from the wife’s family. As Allah Most High says:

“If you fear a breach between them, appoint an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from hers. If they both desire reconciliation”—meaning the two arbitrators—“Allah will bring harmony between them”—meaning the spouses.

If the arbitrators consider it best to keep the spouses together, they do so; and if they consider it best to separate them, they do so. If the wife is at fault, the separation is in exchange for compensation she pays, making it a khulʿ divorce. If the husband is at fault, they are separated without his consent.

Most scholars hold that these two are arbitrators, as Allah has called them, and that they issue their judgment without being appointed as agents by the spouses. This is the position of Mālik, and one of the two views reported from each of al-Shāfiʿī and Imam Ahmad. Another view holds that they are agents, as maintained by Abū Hanīfah and in the other view within the two schools.