In this excerpt from his biographical dictionary of notable individuals, Ibn Khallikān mentions the example of the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph, ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, who consulted his judge Shurayḥ b. al-Ḥārith b. Qays al-Kindī and adhered to Shurayḥ’s ruling. In her analysis of Islamic mirrors-for-princes literature on judging in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Louise Marlow cites this report as an example of a model ruler who was willing to defer to the judgments of others even in disputes involving himself.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.