Book of the Judgments of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that the child belongs to the marriage bed.

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled for pre-emption (shuf'ah) in every share that has not been divided, whether in the form of a house or a garden: it is not permissible for the owner to sell it without the permission of his partner. If the partner wishes, he will take it, and if he wishes, he will leave it. If the owner sells it without informing his partner, the partner has the greater right to that share.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave a judgment of pre-emption in favour of the neighbour.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment by taking an oath from the defendant.

Masruq says that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about a man who married a woman and then died, without having consummated the marriage with her or having fixed her dower. What is to happen now? Sayyiduna Abdullah said: "She shall receive the dower of her peers and she shall also receive inheritance, and the waiting period ('iddah) is also obligatory upon her." At this Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Sinan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave exactly this judgment concerning Sayyidah Birwa' bint Washiq (may Allah be pleased with her)."

Tamim bin Tarafah says that two men came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a dispute over a camel. Then each of them came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with two witnesses, who testified that this camel was his. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment on the camel in favour of both of them.

Salamah bin Kuhayl says: We were in the gathering of Qadi Shurayh when some people came to him with a dispute over a life grant ('umra) that had been given to a man for his whole life. Qadi Shurayh said to them: "It goes to this man during his life, and after his death it goes to his heirs." The one against whom he had ruled turned to him and began adjuring him by oaths. Qadi Shurayh said: "This man is blaming me in a matter on which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself gave judgment."

Sayyiduna al-Miswar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was consulting the people about a woman whose pregnancy someone had caused to miscarry. Sayyiduna al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment in such a matter for a male or female slave." Sayyiduna Umar said: "Bring someone who will testify to this along with you." So Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) testified in his favour.

Sayyiduna al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment that the family were to pay the blood money, and, in the matter of causing the miscarriage, that a male or female slave was to be given.

Huzayl bin Shurahbil said that a man came to Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) and Salman bin Rabi'ah and asked the two of them about the shares in inheritance of a daughter, a son's daughter and a full sister. The two of them replied: "The daughter will receive half of the estate, and whatever remains will go to the sister." They also said: "Go to Ibn Mas'ud and ask him as well; he will give the same answer." So the man went to Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), asked him, and informed him of what the two of them had said. Ibn Mas'ud said: "Then I would surely have gone astray and would not be among the rightly guided. Rather, I will give the ruling that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave concerning this: the daughter will receive half of the estate, and the son's daughter will receive one sixth, to complete the two thirds, and whatever remains will go to the sister."

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Khalid, Shibl and Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them) said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "I implore you by Allah to judge between us only according to the Book of Allah." His opponent, who had more understanding than he did, said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), judge between us according to the Book of Allah, and permit me to say something." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Speak." He said: "My son was employed by this man and he committed adultery with his wife, so I gave a hundred goats and a servant as ransom for him. Then I asked the scholars about it, and they told me that my son is due a hundred lashes and exile for a year, and that this man's wife is to be stoned." the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, I will certainly judge between you according to the Book of Allah. The hundred goats and the servant will be returned to you, and your son will receive a hundred lashes and exile for a year. And O Unays, go to this woman, and if she confesses to adultery, stone her."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment on the basis of one witness and an oath.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled on debt before the bequest, even though you people recite this verse of the Qur'an: "after any bequest that has been made, or any debt" [Surah al-Nisa: 12]. And indeed, full brothers and sisters inherit, and not the paternal half-siblings.

Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled concerning the child in favour of the husband.

Shaybah bin Musawir said that Umar bin Abd al-Aziz wrote a document, and it was then read out to us, stating that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled five camels for a head wound that exposes the bone, and did not rule on anything other than that.

Tha'labah bin Abi Malik said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled concerning Mahzur, which is a valley of Banu Qurayzah, that the water is to be held back up to the ankles, and that those higher up must not hold it back from those lower down beyond that.

Tawus said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled five camels as the blood money for one tooth.

Sa'id and Haram bin Sa'd both said that a she-camel belonging to Sayyiduna al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the orchard of some people and ruined it. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that protecting property during the day is the responsibility of its owner, and that the owner of the livestock must pay compensation when the livestock has caused damage at night.

Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled ten camels as the blood money for the fingers.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandfather of Shu'ayb, said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled ten camels each as the blood money for the fingers.

Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Sinan (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandfather of Abd al-Hamid, said: My parents brought their dispute concerning me to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). One of them was a disbeliever and the other a Muslim. the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave Rafi' the choice, and he began to turn towards the disbeliever. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated: "O Allah, guide him," and he turned towards the Muslim. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave judgment in favour of the Muslim concerning him.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that the blood money for causing a miscarriage is a male or female slave. The one against whom he had ruled said: "Are we to pay blood money for one who has neither eaten nor drunk, nor cried nor screamed? Blood of this kind goes unpaid for!" the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This man speaks like a poet. In any case, the blood money for causing a miscarriage is a male or female slave."

Awf said that a letter of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz was read out to us: "Whoever becomes bankrupt, and then a man finds his own goods with that person, he alone has more right to those goods than all the other creditors, unless he has already taken some part of the bankrupt person's property, in which case the rest of the property will be shared equally among all the creditors. For the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled in this very way."

Ikrimah said that the waiting period of a woman who has obtained a khul' is counted as one menstrual cycle. the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this ruling concerning Sayyidah Jamilah bint Salul (may Allah be pleased with her).

Abu Sa'id al-A'sam said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave two rulings concerning a slave and his master. He ruled concerning the slave that when he comes out of the land of war before his master, he is free. Then, if the master comes out after the slave, the slave is not to be returned to him. And if the master comes out of the land of war before the slave, and the slave comes out after that, the slave is to be returned to the master.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) separated the spouses who had performed li'an (mutual cursing) and ruled that the man owes the woman neither housing nor maintenance, because they separated without a divorce, and she is not in the category of a widow. He ruled that her child is not to be attributed to a father, that no accusation is to be made against the woman, and that no accusation is to be made against her child; and whoever accuses the woman or her child is to receive the prescribed punishment for slander.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Whoever sells a slave who has some property, that property goes to the seller, unless the buyer makes it a condition. the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this very ruling.

Damrah bin Habib said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) assigned the responsibility for the housework to Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), and entrusted the responsibility for the work outside the home to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).

Ibn Abi Mulaykah said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that pre-emption (shuf'ah) applies to everything: land, a house, a slave woman, an animal.

And Ata said: Pre-emption applies only to land and a house.

Then Ibn Abi Mulaykah said: "May you have no mother! You hear me saying that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said it, and you say this?"

Ikrimah said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled blood money of twelve thousand (12000) for a man of the Ansar who had been killed by a freed slave of Banu Adi. And it was concerning these people that this verse was revealed: "And they took revenge only because Allah and His Messenger had enriched them out of His bounty." [Surah al-Tawbah: 74]

Alqamah said that a man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked: "A man from among us married a woman, and he had not yet fixed a dower for her or had intercourse with her when he died?" Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Since I parted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I have not been asked about anything weightier for me than this question!" Alqamah said: He remained in doubt about this matter for a month, and then said: "I will give my own opinion on this matter. If it is correct, it is from Allah Almighty, and if it is wrong, that opinion is from me and from Satan. My opinion is that this woman will receive the customary dower of women like her, neither less nor more; she will also receive inheritance, and it is obligatory on her to observe the waiting period of a widow." Then some people of the tribe of Ashja' stood up and said: "We bear witness that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this same ruling that you have given concerning a woman of ours, whose name was Barwa' bint Washiq." Alqamah said: I have never seen Ibn Mas'ud as happy as I saw him that day.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that a man from among us gave his mother date palms for the duration of her life. When his mother died, he said: "I have more right to my date palms." But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that they are inheritance.

Muhammad bin Abi Dirar said that two men brought a dispute to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled against one of them. Muhammad bin Abi Dirar said: That man began to glare, as if he were rejecting the ruling of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and wanted the opposite. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am only a human being; I give whatever ruling I consider appropriate. So if I have ruled in someone's favour concerning the right of his brother, he must not take that right."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that the benefit derived from a slave belongs to the one who bears responsibility for him.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You people bring your disputes to me, and I am only a human being, and perhaps some of you present their argument better than others, so I judge between you on the basis of what I hear from you. So whoever I have ruled for concerning the right of his brother must not take that right, for I have given him a piece of the Fire, which he will bring with him on the Day of Resurrection."

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said that two men laid claim to an animal, and neither of them had any witnesses. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that the animal belonged to both of them.

Al-Zuhri said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled, concerning the male organ when it has been cut off from the root or its tip has been cut off, that the blood money is due, namely a hundred camels.

Imam al-Zuhri said: Umar bin Abd al-Aziz called me and asked about qasamah (the oaths in an unsolved killing), and said: "It occurs to me that I should abolish it, because a Bedouin comes and testifies, and likewise a man who was absent from the scene comes and testifies." Imam al-Zuhri said: I said: "O Commander of the Faithful, it is not within your power to abolish it, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself and the Rightly Guided Caliphs after him ruled by it."