the person against whom testimony is offered is present, the judge should read aloud to him what the witnesses have stated and record their names and family affiliations so that he may recognize them if he wishes to challenge the testimony itself or to impeach the witnesses’ character and thereby have their evidence set aside.

If two men testify against a judge concerning a particular ruling and the judge denies having issued it, their testimony remains admissible.

When someone claims before the judge that the latter has already ruled in his favor on a matter the judge no longer remembers, and the claimant asks to bring witnesses to establish his claim, two reports exist from Mālik and his companions. One holds that the judge is to hear the witnesses; the other that he should pay them no heed. The opinion that he neither grants the request nor listens to the witnesses is, in my view, the sounder one, for they would be testifying to something of which the judge himself has no knowledge. Those who allow the hearing of such testimony and disregard the judge’s lapse treat the matter as they would an ordinary report. Allah knows best.

The mosque is the fairest place for him to sit, because no one is barred entry there. Still, if he were to spend part of the day in the mosque and part in his house—so that menstruating women and dhimmīs could reach him—that would be commendable. He should designate one day exclusively for women, adjudicating their cases apart from the men, and appoint as their aides righteous eunuchs and elderly men. Should upright elderly women attend on the women’s day to assist him in matters that require a woman’s insight, that too is praiseworthy.

He must not let a man take precedence when another arrived earlier, though advancing the cases of strangers or travelers when he deems it appropriate is acceptable.

He is obliged to be deliberate in his judgments and not to rush the execution of a ruling whenever something is doubtful or suspicious. He should set a deadline so that the litigant can produce his proof and defend himself. It is unlawful for him to deny the right of one whose entitlement has become clear and whose case is sound, for death might overtake him suddenly while he wrongs that person.

Judgments are to be conducted between the plaintiff and the defendant in the locality of the defendant and the judge—unless the plaintiff meets the defendant in a major town from