Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (3/642)

Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-ṢāliḥīnIbn al-'Uthaymin

and his oppression, for both sound reason and the revealed law forbid bringing about the greater of two harms and command that one bear the lesser of them when one of the two is unavoidable.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then cited a number of Qur’anic verses and hadiths, among them the Almighty’s words, “Indeed Allah commands justice and excellence” (16:90). Justice is obligatory, whereas excellence (iḥsān) is an added virtue and therefore recommended. I expected him also to quote Allah’s words, “O you who believe, obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you” (4:59), and His words, “Indeed Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due, and when you judge between people, to judge with justice. Excellent indeed is that with which Allah admonishes you; Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing” (4:58).

Justice on the part of the ruler means that he makes no distinction among people, wrongs no one, and shows no favoritism—neither to a wealthy man because of his wealth, nor to a relative because of kinship, nor to a poor man because of his poverty. He must judge with equity. The scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—have even stated that a judge is obliged to apply justice between the two litigants even if one of them is an unbeliever. Should a non-Muslim and a Muslim appear before him, he must treat them equally in seating, in speech, in eye-contact, and in everything else, for the setting is one of adjudication in which justice is mandatory. Some ignorant people might say, “No, give precedence to the Muslim.” We reply that it is impermissible to do so, because the situation is one of litigation and balance; absolute fairness is required in every respect.

The author then mentioned the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Seven types of people Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His shade.” These seven are not meant as an exhaustive list; there are others whom Allah will also shade. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar, in his commentary on al-Bukhari, gathered the relevant reports and counted more than twenty such categories.

وظلمه، ومعلوم أن العقل والشرع ينهى عن ارتكاب أشد الضررين، ويأمر بارتكاب أخف الضررين إذا كان لابد من ارتكاب أحدهما. ثم ساق المؤلف ﵀ آيات وأحاديث منها قوله تعالى: (إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإحْسَانِ) العدل واجب والإحسان فضل وزيادة فهو سنة, وحسبته أن يذكر قوله تعالى: (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ) (النساء: ٥٩) وقوله: (إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَى أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعاً بَصِيراً) (النساء: ٥٨) . فالعدل من الوالي ألا يفرق بين الناس، ولا يجور على أحد، ولا يحابي غنياً لغناه، ولا قريباً لقرابته، ولا فقيراً لفقره، ولكن يحكم بالعدل، حتى إن العلماء ﵏ قالوا: يجب على القاضي أن يستعمل العدل مع الخصمين، ولو كان أحدهما كافراً؛ يعني لو دخل كافر ومسلم على القاضي؛ فإن الواجب أن يعدل بينهما في الجلوس والكلام والملاحظة بالعين وغير ذلك؛ لأن المقام مقام حكم يجب فيه العدل، وإن كان بعض الجهال يقول: لا، قدّم المسلم. نقول: لا يجوز أن نقدم المسلم؛ لأن المقام مقام محاكمة ومعادلة، فلا بد من العدل في كل شيء. ثم ذكر حديث أبي هريرة ﵁ أن النبي ﷺ قال: ((سبعة يظلهم الله في ظله يوم لا ظل إلا ظله)) سبعة يظلهم الله، وليس هذا على سبيل الحصر، هناك أناس آخرون يظلهم الله غير هؤلاء، وقد جمعهم الحافظ ابن حجر في شرح البخاري فزادوا على العشرين.