THE ENTIRE JUDGES SHOULD LEARN FROM THE JUDGMENT OF THE COMMANDER OF THE FAITHFUL (Peace be upon him)

The commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) in this respect has reproach Shuraih who has judged in favour of a denier after taking an oath without making deep research on the issue. Imam Ali (Peace be upon him) said:

"O' Shuraih, it is impossible, is this how you judge in this type of issue?![1]

This narration has been narrated by Allamah Majlisi in volume 14 of Bihar al-Anwar and with little difference in volume 40 of same book.

One day the commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) entered the mosque and saw a young man crying while there are some members of people besides him. The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) inquired from him concerning his condition, he said: Shuraih has not make fair judgment in the process of his judgment!

The commander of the faithful said: what is your problem?

The young man said: These people (pointing at those besides him) traveled outside the town with my father and returned from the journey without my father, I inquired from them the condition of my father, they said he is dead. Where are the properties in his possession I asked? They said: we don't have any information about his properties.

Shuraih ordered them to take an oath for not having any information about his properties, they did so and Shuraih ordered me not to cause any molestation to them.

The commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) said to Qanbar: gather those people together with war police[2] and let them present before me.

The commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) then sat down and call upon some people including the Youngman.

Imam Ali (Peace be upon him) asked question from what he has already said while the Youngman explained his claim again while he was crying. O' the commander of the faithful, I swear by God, I accused those men for the death of my father because certainly they deceived him by taking him out of the town for their covetousness in his properties.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) inquired about the incident from them. They explained to Imam Ali exactly how they have explained to Shuraih that the man died and we don't have any information about his wealth.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) looked at their faces and later said: what are your opinions?! Do you imagine that I don't know what happened to the father of this young man?

If this is how it was then I possessed little knowledge! Then he ordered them to be separated from each other in the mosque and to be sitted by the pillar of the mosque. The honourable Imam (Peace be upon him) ordered for his secretary who was in those days in person of Ubaidullah bn Abi Rafi'i.

Then Imam called upon one of them and said: give us information with low voice about the date you left your house and were the father of this young man with you people?

He said: in so and so date.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) commanded Ibn Abi Rafi'i to write. Then Imam inquired about the very month they went out? Then he ascertains the date of his death.

The honourable Imam commanded the secretary to write it down, he inquired again about the year, he expounded the very year he died while the secretary wrote it down.

Which sickness caused his death inquired by the Imam? He mentioned the sickness.

He said: where did he die? He specified the place.

Who performed his death bath and the shroud, Imam inquired

He mentioned the person.

What have you used as his shroud? Imam asked. He specified his shroud.

Imam said: who has offered the death prayer upon him?

He mentioned the person.

He said: who has constructed his tomb? He expounded the name of the person while Ubaidullah bn Rafi'i put everything in writing. When this man has made all his confessions till the completion of the burying, the commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) proclaimed "Allahu Akbar" Allah is the Greatest. Such proclamation that everyone in the mosque heard of it. Then he ordered the man to return to his position.

Then he called upon another person and sat him closer to himself and then throw the same questions to the man like the first man and his answers was quite different from the first man while Ubaidullah bn Abi Rafi'i put everything in writing. When the holy Imam has finished asking all the questions he also proclaimed "Allahu Akbar" Allah is the Greatest, to the extent everyone in the mosque heard of it.

He (Peace be upon him) ordered the two men to be oust from the mosque to the gate of the prison.

He (Peace be upon him) then called upon the third person and the questions thrown to the former two men was thrown to him and his answer was also quite different from the former two men and all was written down by the secretary.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) also proclaimed "Allahu Akbar" Allah is the Greatest, and ordered him to be taken close to his companions while he called upon the fourth person. He was agitated in his speech and started stammering. The honourable Imam admonished and frightens him. Then the man made confession that he and his friends killed the man and took all his wealth from him while they buried him in a place very close to Kufah.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) ordered him to be taken to the side of the prison and to bring back one out of the former three men and said to him: did you imagine the man died by himself whereas in reality you killed him?

The reality of the incident has become cleared, so explain your attitude towards the man or else I will chain and imprison you.

He also confessed the killing of the man like the confession of his friend, then Imam called upon the remaining ones and they all confessed the killing of the man, thus they regretted for what they have done. They also confessed the confiscation of his wealth in addition to his killing.

The Commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) ordered a person to accompany them to the scene where they buried the money. They dig and brought the money and handed it over to the young man (the son of the assassinated man).

The honourable Imam said to the young man: you have knows their attitude towards your father, what is you decision towards these men?

The young man said: I want the judgment to be upon Almighty Allah and I need not to take any blood from them in this world.

The commander of the faithful (Peace be upon him) didn't implement death penalty upon them but only give them corporal punishment.

Shuraih inquired from Imam: O' the commander of the faithful how did you passed this judgment?

The honourable Imam (Peace be upon him) said to him: Prophet Da'ud (peace be upon him and our Prophet with his family) passed by some children in their playing scene while one of them is called "mata deen" i.e. the religion is dead and he answered them by the name.

Prophet Da'ud went closer to them and inquired about his name. He said his name is "mata deen" the religion is dead. Who gave you this name? Prophet Da'ud asked.

My mother; the boy answered.

Where is your mother?

She is in the house; the boy replied.

Prophet Da'ud went along with the boy to his mother to inquire the circumstance behind the name, he requested the mother to come out.

She came out while Prophet Da'ud said to her: O' the bondswoman of Allah; what is the name of this your son?

His name is "mata deen" the religion is dead.

Who gave this name to him? Prophet Da'ud asked the woman.

His father; the woman said.

Why the father gave this name to him? The Prophet inquired.

The woman said: he went out of the house for a journey together with some people, by then I was bearing the pregnancy of this boy. But those people returned from their journey without my husband, I inquired of him from them, they said: he is died; how about his wealth? I inquired. They said he did not keep any money. Doesn't he give any recommendation or a will? The woman asked.

They said: he imagined that you are pregnant, and said if so whether son or daughter you should named him or her "mata deen" the religion is dead. Then I named him after that name base on the will of the father hence I don't like to differ from his will.

Prophet Da'ud said: did you know this group of people? Yes the woman replied.

Prophet Da'ud said: go to them and bring them out of their various houses, thus those people present before Prophet Da'ud and this is how he judged before them.

Then Prophet Da'ud established the blood of the assassinated man upon them and retrieved his wealth from them.

After the incident Prophet Da'ud said to the woman: O' the bondswoman of Allah: rename your son with "Asha deen" the religion is alive.[3]

It can be deduced from this narration that it is a mistake for Shuraih to depend on only oath, because their witness and oath has caused the untrue judgment against the young man.

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