Ep. 14: Shurayh the Judge | Our Models – The Heroes We Want to Be

Once, Sayyidina Ali (RA) was going to battle and has his armor strapped onto the back of his camel, and at some point, the armor was lost. He completed the expedition, and when he came back, he saw that someone had his armor and was trying to sell it in the marketplace. In those days, the armor would be custom-made so you would know which was yours as it would be made just for you. Ali (RA) proclaimed, “This is mine.” The merchant replied, “No, it is not.” Ali (RA) said, “It is mine. It was on my camel when I lost it.” The merchant said, “It’s in my hands now. Do you have any proof that it is yours?” Ali (RA) could not argue with him at that time and said, “This needs to be sorted out. Let us go to the court and settle this. The judge of the Muslims will decide what will happen with this armor.” The merchant agreed to go to the court happily.

Ali (RA), at this time, was the khalifa of the Muslims. When they appeared in front of the judge, Ali (RA) explained the situation to them. This merchant was a non-Muslim, so Qadi Shurayh, who was the Qadi at that time, turned to the man and said, “What do you say?” He replied, “It is in my possession, so it is mine, unless someone can prove that it is not.” At that time, the person making the claim was needed to have the burden of proof. Qadi Shurayh asked Ali (RA), “Do you have any witnesses?” He replied, “Yes – my slave who was with me and my son, Hassan, will testify.” Qadi Shurayh said, “I believe you in what you are saying and that this armor is absolutely yours, but I need evidence, and in my court, I do not allow sons to testify for their fathers. The testimony of your son, Hassan, cannot be accepted.” Ali (RA) said, “How can you say this? You will regret the testimony of someone who is guaranteed to be of Jannah?” The prophet (SAW) has stated that the two grandsons of the prophet (SAW) would be the leaders of the youth of Jannah. Qadi Shurayh said, “I am not doubting what you are saying, but the law is that a son cannot testify in favor of his father if the father is the one making a claim.” Ali (RA) said, “So be it.”

This non-Muslim, who was watching all of this and saw that the decision was made that he was able to keep the armor, interjected and recited the shahadah on the spot. He then said, “I testify that this armor belongs to you and it is not mine. I testify that this deen is the truth. From today, I am entering into this religion. This armor was strapped onto the camel of Ali when he was on his way to battle and it fell off. I picked it up and took it back to try to sell it, but when he saw me with his armor, he could have simply taken it from me and had every right to do so, but he did not use that authority and instead took me to the court. This could only happen if you people lived by the truth.” Ali (RA) said, “Now that you have accepted Islam, I will take the armor and give it to you as a gift.”

Qadi Shurayh was not a sahaba, but one of the descendants, who was appointed by Umar (RA) as a judge when he saw how fair and just this man was. Once, there was a dispute that Umar (RA) had in the market; Umar (RA) had a horse, and when he went to ride it, the horse would stumble, and it turned out that the horse was basically disabled. Umar (RA) took the horse back to complain and the vendor said, “It was fine when you saw it. It was not limping. This happened after you rode it.” Umar (RA) said, “We need a third party to solve this. I will use this young man, Shurayh. Do you agree to him?” The man agreed, and when they went to Shurayh, they explained the issue to him and he said, “Umar (RA), here is a simple question: when you bought the horse, was it limping?” He replied, “No, it was not limping.” Shurayh said, “Then, either keep the horse or make it stop limping and return it back to the owner.” Umar (RA) said, “This is how a judge should rule.” The decision was against him, but he recognized that this was how justice ruled. Umar (RA) said to Shurayh, “I want you to be the judge on behalf of the khalifa.”

His son came to him and said, “Father, I have an issue where I am about to get into a legal settlement with someone. Can you study the case for me and tell me what my chances of winning are? If they are good, I will come into the court, and if my chances are losing are better, I will do settlement with them.” Shurayh replied, “Tell me what it is.” He was told what the case was and Shurayh said, “Bring it to the court.” The son was happy that the decision would be in his favor, and when he came and brought the other party, his father ruled against him and made him pay. Later, he came back to his father and said, “Father, you have disgraced me in front of everyone. I asked you about my chances.” Shurayh replied, “When I looked at the case, I knew that you had chances of losing, but when you told me you would agree to a settlement, I was afraid that you would give settlement to them in which their right is not given and you would get them to agree even though they are entitled to more. One of you is more dear to you than the whole world of other people, but Allah (SWT) and his command is more important to me.”

These were people that had knowledge of justice – it was not about favoritism, covering up the truth, getting your way by finding loopholes or cutting corners; it was about doing things properly and fairly every single time. May Allah (SWT) enable us to walk in their footsteps.