Al-Jāmiʿ is an addendum to ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Ṣanʿānī’s Muṣannaf—a collection of Hadith that bring attention to the theme of enmity between Muslims. He relates an account in which Caliph ʿUmar I (d. 23/644) reacts negatively when the spoils of a conquered territory are brought before him because of his fear that “when such opulence besets a people, God casts enmity and hatred in their midst!” This quote reveals the Caliph’s concern about how wealth would exacerbate social tensions among the people. In Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts Ahmed El Shamsy cites this account to provide historical background to the subsequent institution of progressive limitations on the eligibility criterion for serving as a witness, which aimed to address biases that might be introduced into the judiciary from internal rivalries.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts (ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of sources and other material used in and related to the book.