An arbitrator who inclines toward one of the two litigants

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said about the verse of the Holy Qur'an: "O you who believe, be persistently firm in justice" [Al-Nisa: 135]: Two men will sit before the judge, and the judge's leaning and his honouring will be towards one of the two and not the other.

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Every ruler who judges between people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection in this way: an angel will seize him by the nape of his neck and stand him over Hell. Then the angel will raise his head towards the Most Merciful. If He says to him: "Throw him in," he will throw him into a drop of forty autumns.

He said: And Masruq said: That I should judge for one day, holding to truth and justice, is dearer to me than a year in which I fight in the path of Allah.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The people concerning whom Sulayman (peace be upon him) was put to the test in judging were the people of al-Jaradah. Al-Jaradah was the name of a woman. It was the desire of Sulayman (peace be upon him) that the right should lie with the people of al-Jaradah, so that he could give judgment in their favour.

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The ruler of the earth will face ruin before the Ruler of the heavens on the day the earthly ruler meets the Ruler above, except for the ruler who judged with justice before him, who did not judge overcome by any desire, kinship, longing or fear, and who kept the Book of Allah as a mirror before his eyes.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Judges are of three kinds. Two will go to Hell and one will go to Paradise. Then he mentioned the two who will go to Hell, saying: One is the man who deliberately commits injustice; he will go to Hell. The second is the man who intends truth and justice but errs; he too will go to Hell. The third is the one whose intention was the truth and whose judgment was also correct; such a man will go to Paradise.

He said: I said to Rufay': "What is your view of this man who intended the truth but erred?" He said: "If he did not know how to judge, it was his duty not to be a judge."

Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It is not proper for a judge to give judgment until the truth becomes as clear to him as night is clear from day. This reached Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) has spoken the truth."

Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said that "and decisive speech" [Sad: 20] in the verse of the Holy Qur'an means knowledge of judging.

Shurayh said: It means witnesses and oaths.

Mujahid said about the verse of the Qur'an "He gives wisdom to whom He wills" [Al-Baqarah: 269]: It does not mean prophethood; rather it means knowledge, the Qur'an and fiqh.

Ziyad said that "and decisive speech" means the phrase "amma ba'd" (as for what follows).

Shurayh said: It means witnesses and oaths.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No one who gives judgment should judge between two people while he is angry."

Shurayh said: I have never pressed on a litigant's throat, nor have I ever tried to teach him his argument myself.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A judge should not give judgment between two men while he is angry.