In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The best of generations in stances and exemplary virtue,
Following the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un,
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy on him.
Shurayh the Judge,
May Allah have mercy on him.
The Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), bought
A horse from a Bedouin man and paid him its price in cash.
Then he mounted it and rode off.
But he had scarcely ridden any great distance with the horse
When a defect became apparent in it that hindered it from continuing to run.
So he turned it back to where he had set out,
And said to the man,
"Take back your horse, for it is injured."
The man replied,
"I will not take it back, O Commander of the Faithful,
For I sold it to you sound and healthy."
Thereupon 'Umar said,
"Appoint an arbitrator between you and me."
The man said,
"Let Shurayh ibn al-Harith al-Kindi judge between us."
'Umar replied, "I agree to him."
So the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
And the owner of the horse went before Shurayh for judgment.
When Shurayh heard the statement of the Bedouin,
He turned to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and asked,
"Did you take the horse in a sound condition, O Commander of the Faithful?"
'Umar answered, "Yes."
Shurayh then said,
"Keep what you have purchased, O Commander of the Faithful,
Or return it just as you received it."
'Umar looked at Shurayh in admiration,
And said,
"Is justice ever anything other than this?
A decisive word and an equitable verdict!
Depart for Kufa,
For I have appointed you as its judge."
On the day 'Umar appointed him to the judiciary, Shurayh ibn al-Harith was not
A man of unknown standing in Madinan society,
Nor was he an obscure figure among the scholars and jurists
From among the eminent Companions and the leading Tabi'un.
Indeed, the people of virtue and precedence
Deeply appreciated Shurayh's sharp acumen,
His extraordinary intellect,
His noble character,
And the vast length and depth of his worldly experience.
For he was a man of Yemeni homeland,
Of the Kinda tribe,
Who had spent a considerable part of his life in the pre-Islamic era of ignorance (Jahiliyyah).
So when the Arabian Peninsula shone with the light of guidance,
And the rays of Islam penetrated the land of Yemen,
Shurayh was among the first to believe in Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
Responding promptly to the call of guidance and truth.
Those who recognized his virtue and appreciated his noble characteristics and merits
Felt the deepest sorrow on his behalf,
Wishing that it had been possible for him to travel to Medina early on
To meet the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
Before he departed to the Highest Companion,
So that he might drink directly from his pure, pristine springs without intermediary,
And attain the honor of companionship,
After having attained the blessing of faith,
Thereby gathering every form of goodness.
But what was decreed came to pass.
Al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him) was not
Hasty when he entrusted one of the highest judicial offices to a man from among the Tabi'un,
Even though the sky of Islam at that time
Was still brilliant with the shining stars from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
For the passing days proved the accuracy of 'Umar's discernment
And the soundness of his judgment;
Shurayh continued to judge among the Muslims for around sixty years,
Successively and without interruption.
His appointment was consecutively confirmed by 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, and Mu'awiyah,
May Allah be pleased with them all,
As well as by the Umayyad caliphs who came after Mu'awiyah,
Until he himself requested to be relieved of his office during the governorship of al-Hajjaj,
Having reached the age of one hundred and seven years in a long, righteous life
Filled with glorious deeds and lasting legacies.
The history of the judiciary in Islam was adorned with magnificent moments from Shurayh's judicial career,
And grew splendid through the remarkable submission of both the elite and the common Muslims to the law of Allah,
Which was embodied by Shurayh, as they willingly yielded to his verdicts.
The volumes of history were filled with anecdotes, reports, sayings, and deeds of this extraordinary man.
Among these is that 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him)
Once lost a coat of armor that was dear and precious to him.
Before long, he found it in the hands of a dhimmi man selling it in the market of Kufa.
When he saw it, he recognized it and said,
"This is my armor; it fell from a camel of mine on such-and-such a night and in such-and-such a place."
The dhimmi replied, "Rather, it is my armor, and it is in my possession, O Commander of the Faithful."
'Ali said, "It is indeed my armor; I have not sold it to anyone,
Nor have I gifted it to anyone such that it could have reached you."
The dhimmi said, "Let the judge of the Muslims decide between you and me."
'Ali said, "You have been fair, so let us go to him."
They then proceeded to Shurayh the Judge.
When they appeared before him in the judicial court,
Shurayh said to 'Ali, "What do you say, O Commander of the Faithful?"
He replied, "I have found this armor of mine with this man;
It fell from me on such-and-such a night and in such-and-such a place,
And it did not come into his possession through sale or gift."
Shurayh then asked the dhimmi,
"And what do you say, O man?"
He replied, "The armor is mine, and it is in my possession,
Though I do not accuse the Commander of the Faithful of lying."
Shurayh turned to 'Ali and said,
"I have no doubt that you are telling the truth, O Commander of the Faithful,
And that the armor is indeed yours,
But you must bring two witnesses to attest to the validity of your claim."
'Ali said, "Yes, my freedman Qanbar
And my son al-Hasan will testify for me."
Shurayh said,
"However, the testimony of a son on behalf of his father is not admissible, O Commander of the Faithful."
'Ali said, "Glory be to Allah!
A man from the people of Paradise, and his testimony is not admissible?!
Have you not heard that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
'Al-Hasan and al-Husayn are the masters of the youth of the people of Paradise'?"
Shurayh replied,
"Indeed, O Commander of the Faithful,
Yet I do not permit the testimony of a child on behalf of his parent."
At that point,
'Ali turned to the dhimmi and said,
"Take it, for I have no witnesses other than them."
The dhimmi said,
"Yet I bear witness that the armor is yours, O Commander of the Faithful!"
Then he added,
"By Allah!
The Commander of the Faithful brings me before his own judge,
And his judge rules in my favor against him!
I bear witness that the religion which commands this is the absolute truth,
And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,
And that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger!
Know, O judge,
That the armor is indeed the armor of the Commander of the Faithful;
I followed the army as it was departing for Siffin,
And the armor fell from his ash-colored camel,
So I took it."
'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him,
"As you have embraced Islam,
I grant it to you as a gift,
And I give you this horse along with it as well."
Not long after this incident,
The man was seen fighting against the Kharijites under the banner of 'Ali
On the day of Nahrawan,
Fighting valiantly
Until martyrdom was decreed for him.
Among the remarkable deeds of Shurayh as well
Is that his son said to him one day,
"O my father,
There is a dispute between me and a certain group of people,
So look into it:
If the truth is on my side, I will litigate against them,
But if it is on theirs, I will reconcile with them."
He then related his story to him,
And Shurayh told him, "Go forth and litigate against them."
So he went to his opponents and summoned them to judicial proceedings,
And they agreed.
When they stood before Shurayh,
He ruled in their favor against his own son.
When Shurayh and his son returned home,
The son said to his father,
"You have disgraced me, O my father!
By Allah, had I not consulted you beforehand,
I would not have blamed you."
Shurayh replied,
"O my son!
By Allah, you are dearer to me than an earthful of men like them,
But Allah, the Mighty and Majestic,
Is more precious to me than you.
I feared that if I informed you that the right was theirs,
You would settle with them on terms that would deprive them of some of their right,
So I said to you what I said."
A son of Shurayh once stood as guarantor for a man,
And Shurayh accepted his surety.
Thereupon, the man did nothing
Except flee to escape the reach of justice,
So Shurayh imprisoned his own son in place of the fugitive.
He used to carry his food to him with his own hands to the prison every day.
Doubts would occasionally trouble Shurayh
Concerning certain witnesses,
Yet he found no legitimate way to reject their testimony
Because they fulfilled all the legal criteria of uprightness.
So he would say to them before they gave their testimony,
"Listen to me, may Allah guide you:
It is you who are passing judgment against this man,
And I am only shielding myself from the Fire through you,
While you are foremost in needing to shield yourselves from it!
You are still able right now to refrain from testifying and leave."
Then, if they insisted on testifying,
He would turn to the one in whose favor they testified and say,
"Know, you who stand here,
That I am only ruling in your favor based on their testimony,
Though I firmly suspect that you are an oppressor;
Yet I do not judge by mere conjecture,
But rather I judge strictly by the testimony of witnesses.
And my verdict does not make lawful for you anything that Allah has made forbidden to you."
The motto that Shurayh constantly repeated in his judicial assemblies was his saying:
"Tomorrow the oppressor will know who the true loser is;
Indeed, the oppressor awaits punishment,
and the oppressed awaits justice.
And I swear by Allah
that no one ever gives up something for the sake of Allah, the Exalted,
and then feels its loss."
Nor was Shurayh sincere only to Allah,
His Messenger, and His Book;
rather, he was equally devoted in offering sincere counsel to the Muslim public and their elite alike.
One of them narrated:
"Shurayh overheard me complaining of some distress to a friend.
He took me by the hand, drew me aside, and said,
'O son of my brother,
beware of complaining to anyone other than Allah, the Almighty and Majestic.
For the one you complain to
is inevitably either a friend or a foe:
as for the friend, you merely cause him grief,
and as for the foe, he takes gloating pleasure in your misfortune.'
Then he said,
'Look at this eye of mine,'
pointing to one of his eyes,
'for by Allah, I have not seen a person or a path with it for fifteen years,
yet I have never informed anyone of this
except you this very hour.
Have you not heard the words of the righteous servant: ﴾I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah﴿?
“He said: I expose my distress and anguish only unto Allah, and I know from Allah that which ye know not.” (12:86)
So make Allah, the Exalted, your refuge for your complaints and sorrows in every misfortune that befalls you,
for He is the most generous to be petitioned and the nearest to be called upon.'
One day, he saw a man begging another for something,
so he said to him:
"O son of my brother,
whoever asks another human being for a need
has exposed himself to servitude:
if the requested person fulfills it for him,
he has enslaved him thereby,
and if he denies him it,
both return humiliated—
this one through the shame of stinginess,
and that one through the shame of rejection.
So when you ask, ask Allah,
and when you seek aid, seek aid from Allah,
and know that there is no might, no power, and no help except through Allah."
A plague struck Kufa,
and a friend of Shurayh fled it toward Najaf,
seeking to escape the epidemic.
Shurayh wrote to him:
"To proceed:
the place you left behind will not hasten your appointed death,
nor will it rob you of your destined days;
and the place you have arrived at
is within the grasp of the One Whom no pursuit can elude,
nor any flight can escape.
Indeed, both of us dwell upon the carpet of a single King,
and Najaf is very near to the Almighty."
In addition to all of this, Shurayh was
an accessible, spontaneous poet,
graceful in delivery and engaging in his themes.
It is related that he had a young son around ten years of age,
deeply beloved to him, yet devoted to play.
One day, Shurayh looked for him
and found that he had skipped his schooling
and gone off to watch fighting dogs.
When the boy returned home, Shurayh asked him, "Did you pray?"
He replied, "No."
So Shurayh called for parchment and pen,
and wrote to his tutor:
"He abandoned prayer for little pups he pursues,
seeking dogfights alongside the defiled strayers.
So let him come to you in the morning with a letter,
written against him like the letter of al-Mutalammis.
And when he comes to you, treat him with reproach,
and admonish him with the counsel of a cultured, discerning mentor.
And if you resolve to strike him, use a switch,
but when you reach three blows, stay your hand.
And know that whatever you do, his soul,
despite the bitter cups he makes me swallow, remains the dearest of all souls to me."
May Allah be pleased with al-Faruq!
For he adorned the crown of judiciary in Islam
with a pearl of noble lineage,
pure in its essence,
magnificent to behold.
He gifted the Muslims a radiant lamp,
by which they still, to this day, illuminate their path
through the radiance of his deep fiqh in the law of Allah,
guided by the light of his understanding of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah,
and with him they shall pride themselves over other nations on the Day of Resurrection.
And may Allah have mercy upon Judge Shurayh,
who upheld justice among the people for sixty years;
he never wronged anyone,
never deviated from truth,
and never favored a king over a commoner.
It was said to Shurayh,
"By what means did you attain this knowledge?"
He replied, "By scholarly discourse with the scholars—
taking from them and giving to them."
Sufyan al-Awsi:
whenever he strove or spoke,
"They were here,
quenching the clouds of our lives;
they passed away, while among us
their memory rises high.
They departed, leaving in our conscience a question:
Did ever like them
a star rise high and shine?
They filled life with glories,
through their upright deeds,
and humanity flourished through them."