Book of the Judiciary
Linguistically, qaḍāʾ—with the long vowel—means to accomplish a matter and bring it to completion. The Almighty says, “Then He fashioned them into seven heavens in two days” (Q 41:12), meaning that He perfected them and finished with them.
In the Sacred Law it denotes clarifying the ruling prescribed by Allah, obliging people to abide by it, and adjudicating disputes.
The legitimacy of the judiciary rests on the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the consensus of the Muslim community, and analogical reasoning.
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Qur’an: Allah says, “So judge between the people with truth and do not follow desire” (Q 38:26); and, “And judge between them by what Allah has revealed” (Q 5:49), among other verses.
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Sunnah: Numerous texts, including the report in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When a judge exerts himself and reaches the correct verdict, he receives two rewards; if he strives and errs, he receives one.”
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Consensus: The Muslims have unanimously agreed upon its lawfulness.
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Analogy: People’s affairs cannot be set right without it; therefore it is a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah).
Al-Mughnī states: “Immense virtue belongs to whoever is strong enough to undertake this office and render justice within it. For that reason Allah grants a reward even when the judge errs and waives any liability for the mistake. The position entails enjoining what is right, supporting the oppressed, giving every claimant his due, restraining the wrong-doer, reconciling people, and rescuing some from the excesses of others—all avenues of drawing near to Allah.”
For this reason the Prophet ﷺ himself assumed the office, as did the prophets before him, judging for their nations. He ﷺ sent ʿAlī to Yemen as a judge, and he dispatched Muʿādh as a judge as well.
It is related from Ibn Masʿūd that he said, “To sit as a judge between two people is dearer to me than seventy years of worship.”