In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
May Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family, and his Companions, and grant them abundant peace.

The Book of Judicial Etiquette

The scholars of Madinah and elsewhere—so far as I am aware—are unanimous that no one should assume the judiciary except a person whose religion, uprightness, discernment, and knowledge are beyond reproach. They require that he be well-versed in the sunnah and the transmitted reports, in the rulings of the Quran, in the various methodologies of fiqh, and in the areas of scholarly disagreement.

Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, further stipulated that the judge must also be familiar with the past disputes of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and of the leading Successors in Madinah.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Salamah and others said: He must not be a mere man of opinion who lacks knowledge of the sunnah and the reports, nor a hadith specialist without an understanding of fiqh. They added: No one should issue legal rulings or set himself up as a mufti except someone possessing these qualities, unless a man simply conveys to another something he has heard.

It is impermissible for a deaf or a blind person to undertake the office of judge. He must be alert and perceptive to people and their schemes, resolute in upholding the truth, and unafraid of the reproach of any critic. He should consult the people of knowledge and piety concerning what is unclear to him, verify matters carefully, and avoid haste.

Alongside all this, he must realize that he has been tried with a momentous responsibility; therefore, let him maintain constant vigilance with regard to people and guard himself from his entourage, his family, and his closest associates.

In the words of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—