. G F (cont.)

At the same time, Islam does not expect all of its adherent to be like "little angels."3 There will always be some evil in society, even in the best of societies. There may always be hypocrites and those of weak faith present. Therefore, the laws of Islam are also structured to take those elements of society into consideration. Part of the means by which the remainder of society can be protected from those elements are the laws and principles related to judicial proceedings, witnesses and so forth. • A person is free of guilt or claims made against him until proven otherwise. • No decision is to be made in favor of a claimant simply because he is from a higher class while the defendant is from a lower class. No matter how noble or righteous the plaintiff is, if he cannot offer any proof for his claim, the charges against the defendant will be dropped if he takes an oath that he is innocent of said charges. 1 Al-Haitami, Fath, pp. 243-244. 2 Unless otherwise noted, the information above concerning al-Baihaqi came from Abdul Ghafaar al-Bindaawi's introduction to Ahmad al-Baihaqi, Shuab al-lmaan (Beirut: Daar al-Kutub al­ Ilmiyah, 1990), vol. I , pp. 13-18. 3 Cf., Baitaar, p. 201 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi • Any oath taken by a Muslim must be in the name of Allah only. The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, "Whoever is to swear an oath must swear by Allah or remain silent." (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.) • It is permissible for the judge to make the plaintiff swear that his witnesses are telling the truth. According to Imam Ahmad, this was done by Ali ibn Abu Taalib. Furthermore, the judge may also make the witnesses themselves swear that what they are stating is the truth. This is in order to remove any doubt from their testimony. 1 • The judge may not decide a case based on his own knowledge of particular events. He is only allowed to decide a case based on what is presented in front of him. Al-Bukhari and Muslim record that the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, "I am a human being. You come to me as litigants. Perhaps, one of you is better in presenting his argument than the other and I decide in his favor according to what I have heard. If I have decided anything for someone from the rights of his brother, he should not take it for I have portioned for him a portion of the Hell-fire." The wisdom behind this is obvious. It is to prevent any kind of wrongdoing or harm on the part of the judge. He may, if such were permissible, claim to have some knowledge and decide in favor of anyone he wishes. Instead, he may only decide matters on the basis of the clear evidence presented in front of him. This also prevents the judge from being bribed to decide a case. It also frees the judge himself from suspicion as he may have decided a case based on his own knowledge of a matter while people may suspect that he did not really have such knowledge and was just doing injustice. 2 • Acting as a judge between people is a very important job. It is through such people that rights are protected and many obligations are fulfilled. The reward for being a just and honest judge can be great. If a person sincerely tries to solve a case honestly and justly, he will be rewarded by Allah even 1 Cf., ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 237. 2 Cf., al-Bugha and Mistu, pp. 249-250. Hadith #33: "Were People to be Given . . . " if he was not able to achieve the correct conclusion. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated, ,,,. ,,,.,,. ,,,.,,,. ,,. /. J ,,,. ,,,. ,,,. ,,,. ,,.,,.. ,,,. /. J ,,,. I) ,,,. ,,,. ?.i ill t,b;.i Ǐlj Ə \$ J W1;,.i ill yL,.,i Ǐlj "#\ Ə \$ "If a judge [or ruler] decided a case and strove [to determine the correct ruling], then if he were correct, he receives two rewards. And if he strove and was incorrect, he receives just one reward." (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.) In the latter case, he received one reward for his striving although he was not able to come to the correct conclusion. However, the "judʪe" must be very careful in his decisions. He must do his best to base his decision on knowledge and not allow his emotions or desires to sway his judgment in any way. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said, /. ,. ,,,. /. dJ /. ,,,.,,,. ,,,. /. ,,. ,,,. ,,,. J J 0 ਫ਼I Jǐ %) &\ J (,?;UI ెt; /JI J W81) শI J ੟I) ࢾŻ oWI ,,,. ,,,. ,,, ,. /. ,,,. 0 ,,,. ,,.._ ,. ,,,. ,,,. S ੜ੝ ਜ਼ %'J !81 J S p1 J '( )\ Jǐ %'J U ਗ਼ }ll J ¿ Ε , .