Adjudication and Liʿān in the Mosque: Jurisprudential Review & Historical Reports
This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Muḥammad Munīr Qamar’s book Aḥkām al-Masājid.
Adjudication and Liʿān in the Mosque
While mentioning the permissibility of non-Muslims entering the mosque, we have already cited an excerpt from Imām Khaṭṭābī’s Maʿālim al-Sunan (commentary on Abū Dāwūd), in which he outlined several scenarios wherein a polytheist may enter the mosque out of necessity. Among these is the case where a non-Muslim/polytheist has to file a case in the qāḍī’s court, and the qāḍī happens to be sitting in the mosque—then it is permissible for the polytheist to enter the mosque to establish his right.
At first glance, one might be surprised at Imām Khaṭṭābī’s statement: why must he present the case in the mosque before the qāḍī? Could he not wait until the qāḍī leaves the mosque and sits in the courthouse to present his case there?
In reality, there is nothing surprising here, because in the era of the salaf al-ṣāliḥīn, qāḍīs used to sit in mosques to pass judgments—and this is permissible.
However, for the enforcement of ḥudūd, the culprit would be taken out of the mosque. In this regard, in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Kitāb al-Aḥkām, Bāb: Man Ḥakama fī al-Masjid), Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrates:
أتى رجل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو فى المسجد فناداه فقال يا رسول الله إني زنيت فلما شهد على نفسه أربعا قال أبك جنون قال لا قال اذهبوا به فارجموه
Bukhārī maʿa al-Fatḥ 156/13
A man came into the presence of the Noble Prophet ﷺ while he was in the mosque, and called out: “O Messenger of Allah, I have committed zinā.” The Prophet ﷺ turned away from him, and when he confessed four times in succession, he ﷺ asked, “Are you insane?” He replied, “No.” The Prophet ﷺ then said, “Take him out and stone him.”
In Kitāb al-Ḥudūd – Bāb Rajm al-Muḥṣan, the final words of this ḥadīth are:
وكان قد أحصن
Bukhārī maʿa al-Fatḥ 117/12
“And he had been previously married.”
And in the same Kitāb al-Ḥudūd – Bāb Lā Yurjam al-Majnūn wa al-Majnūnah, it is also mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ first asked, “Are you insane?” and then asked:
فهل أحصنت
“Have you been married?”
He said:
نعم
“Yes.”
Then the Prophet ﷺ ordered that he be taken outside and stoned.
Bukhārī maʿa al-Fatḥ 120/12, 121
This is the incident of Māʿiz al-Aslamī رضي الله عنه, narrated by numerous Companions. He came forward voluntarily to confess out of fear of the punishment of the Hereafter, preferring to be purified in this world due to the Prophet’s ﷺ nurturing, saying:
طهرني يا رسول الله صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم
“O Messenger of Allah, purify me (by implementing the prescribed punishment).”
It is also mentioned in the incident that the Prophet ﷺ asked whether he had drunk wine; he said no. A man then came and smelled his mouth to confirm. It was further asked whether it was merely kissing; he said no, and he confessed to all the details of sleeping together and intercourse, lest such a grave punishment be administered due to any misunderstanding.
For details on this case, see the ḥadīth compilations and their commentaries, especially Fatḥ al-Bārī, vol. 12, pp. 120–128, and other relevant places.
Judgment (Qaḍāʾ) and Investigation in the Mosque
Adjudication by a qāḍī in the mosque, and the investigation of cases, is proven not only by the above ḥadīth but by other narrations as well. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Kitāb al-Ṭalāq – Bāb al-Liʿān, and Kitāb al-Aḥkām – Bāb Man Qaḍā wa Lāʿana fī al-Masjid), Sahl b. Saʿd رضي الله عنه narrates:
A man from the Anṣār (i.e., ʿUwaymir al-ʿAjlānī رضي الله عنه) came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: “What do you say regarding a man who finds another man with his wife? Should he kill him—then you will kill him? Or what should he do?”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
قد أنزل الله فيك وفي صاحبتك فاذهب فأت بها
Allah has revealed a ruling concerning you and your wife. Go and bring her.
Sahl رضي الله عنه states that the two of them then performed liʿān before the Prophet ﷺ (in the mosque), and he was present there along with other Companions.
Bukhārī 9/446, 452; 13/154
What is Liʿān?
Liʿān is when a husband accuses his wife of adultery without witnesses; each then testifies four times swearing to the truthfulness of their claim, and on the fifth, invokes Allah’s curse upon themselves if they are lying. This is called liʿān, and divorce takes place along with it. (Details are beyond our scope here.)
For the detailed rulings, see Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī maʿa al-Fatḥ, Kitāb al-Ṭalāq, Bāb al-Liʿān, vol. —, pp. 438–464. This ḥadīth also establishes that the Prophet ﷺ issued judgment in the mosque.
Practice of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and Early Judges
Besides the Prophet ﷺ, it is narrated taʿlīqan in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from among the Rightly-Guided Caliphs that ʿUmar al-Fārūq رضي الله عنه conducted liʿān in the Prophet’s Mosque. Imām al-Bukhārī writes under Bāb Man Qaḍā wa Lāʿana fī al-Masjid:
ولاعن عمر عند منبر النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم
Bukhārī 13/154
“ʿUmar conducted liʿān near the minbar of the Prophet ﷺ.”
Regarding the renowned judge Shurayḥ, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (taʿlīqan) and Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah and Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (mawṣūlan) narrate. Abū Khālid states:
رأيت شريحا يقضي فى المسجد وعليه برنس من جند
Bukhārī 13/154–155
“I saw Shurayḥ passing judgments in the mosque, wearing a long cowl woven of wool and silk.”
In Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ḥakam b. ʿUtaybah says:
رأيت شريحا يقضي فى المسجد
(See Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/155)
“I saw Shurayḥ issuing judgments in the mosque.”
Regarding Imām Yaḥyā b. Yaʿmur رحمه الله, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (taʿlīqan) and Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (mawṣūlan) narrate. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Qays says:
رأيت يحيى بن يعمر يقضي فى المسجد
(Refs: Bukhārī & Fatḥ al-Bārī)
“I saw Yaḥyā b. Yaʿmur passing judgments in the mosque.”
Imām al-Shaʿbī رحمه الله is also mentioned by Imām al-Bukhārī in a chapter heading (taʿlīqan):
وقضى الشعبي فى المسجد
(Refs: Bukhārī & Fatḥ al-Bārī)
“Al-Shaʿbī passed judgments in the mosque.”
This report of al-Shaʿbī is also transmitted mawṣūlan in Jāmiʿ Sufyān by Saʿīd b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī via ʿAbd Allāh b. Shabrumah, wherein it is stated:
رأيت الشعبي جلد يهوديا فى قرية فى المسجد
(Fatḥ al-Bārī as well)
“I saw al-Shaʿbī administering lashes to a Jew in the mosque of a village.”
This report is also narrated mawṣūlan in Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq on the authority of Sufyān.
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, ibid.)
Al-Karābīsī narrates in Adab al-Qaḍāʾ via Abū al-Zinād that Saʿd b. Ibrāhīm, Abū Bakr b. Muḥammad b. ʿAmr b. Ḥazm, his sons, Muḥammad b. Ṣafwān, and Muḥammad b. Muṣʿab b. Sharjīl used to pass judgments in the Prophet’s Mosque. He mentions many other judges who adjudicated in the mosque.
Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/155
In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (taʿlīqan), and Muwattaʾ Imām Mālik (mawṣūlan), there is also the case of Marwān b. al-Ḥakam between Zayd b. Thābit رضي الله عنه and ʿAbd Allāh b. Muṭīʿ, in which Marwān ruled that Zayd should swear by the minbar (near it or atop it). Zayd refused this and insisted on swearing from where he sat.
Bukhārī 5/284–285; 13/154–155
Benefit: Demanding an oath by the Prophet’s Mosque/minbar is for emphasis. There are reports indicating that lying atop or by the minbar is more sinful and a cause of entering Hell than lying elsewhere. See Fatḥ al-Bārī 5/285 for details.
Courtyard Platforms (Raḥbah) and Rulings
From all these narrations, Imām al-Bukhārī inferred the permissibility of adjudicating in the mosque. Other reports mention judgments being issued in a designated place outside the main hall (in the mosque courtyard), called “raḥbah.” In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (taʿlīqan) and Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (mawṣūlan), Muthannā b. Saʿīd narrates:
رأيت الحسن وزرارة بن أوفى يقضيان فى المسجد
Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/155; Bukhārī maʿa al-Fatḥ 13/155
“I saw al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Zarārah b. Awfā issuing judgments in the mosque.”
Al-Karābīsī’s Adab al-Qaḍāʾ also mentions another qāḍī in a slightly different manner:
إن الحسن وزرارة وأياس بن معاوية كانوا إذا دخلوا فى المسجد للقضاء صلوا ركعتين قبل أن يجلسوا
(Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/155)
“When al-Ḥasan, Zarārah, and Ayyās b. Muʿāwiyah would enter the mosque to adjudicate, they would first pray two rakʿahs before sitting.”
From these reports it is understood that arbitration and judicial decisions may be conducted inside the mosque or on platforms in the mosque courtyard. There is a difference of opinion regarding whether the courtyard platform is considered part of the mosque. Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله summarizes that the stronger opinion is that it is counted as part of the mosque, carrying the same ruling—including iʿtikāf and any act contingent upon the mosque. The reports refer to such platforms included within the mosque. As for a platform separate from the mosque premises, it carries a different ruling and is not considered part of the mosque. Thus, the two types of platforms are distinct and carry distinct rulings: the attached one has the mosque’s ruling, while the detached one does not.
Ibn Baṭṭāl states that a group of scholars considered it recommended to convene judgments in the mosque. Imām Mālik رحمه الله says it is an ancient practice. Imām Aḥmad and Isḥāq b. Rāhūyah رحمهما الله also held it recommended. Some scholars deemed it disliked, such as ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz رحمه الله. Imām al-Shāfiʿī رحمه الله says he prefers that judgments be conducted outside the mosque, to facilitate polytheists and women in menstruation/postpartum bleeding.
Al-Karābīsī, after citing the statements of those who considered it disliked, writes that it was the custom of the salaf to pass judgments in the Prophet’s Mosque, and he mentions many reports that indicate this. He argues: if this is the case, how can it be disliked in general mosques? Ibn Baṭṭāl cites Sahl b. Saʿd regarding liʿān in the mosque. Nevertheless, even for him, caution for the purity, cleanliness, and sanctity of the mosque would favor judging outside.
For details, see Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/155–156.
Conclusion
From the entire discussion, it becomes clear that issuing judgments in mosques is recommended or permissible. However, if—considering the sanctity of the mosque—one chooses not to do so, that is also acceptable. In other words, the matter is not about ḥalāl/ḥarām or disliked/recommended, but about what is preferable (awlā) versus less preferable (ghayr awlā). Moreover, issuing a judgment in the mosque and enforcing a sentence/ḥudūd are separate matters.
