In this excerpt from Quḍāt Qurṭuba, Khushanī (d. 361/971) describes the funny and lighthearted behavior of a scholar,Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-Maʿāfirī al-Aʿshā (d. 221/836),who was appraised for the position of judge but eventually turned it down. According to Khushanī, al-Aʿshā challenged the idea that a sense of humor rendered a judge unfit for office. When he was asked why he rejected the position, he explained that he feared being punished in the afterlife for an incorrect or cruel ruling. He followed this reasoning with a rejoinder to his interlocutor about the Prophet Muḥammad’s cousin and son-in-law ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, who did not forego his good humor upon becoming caliph; if, al-Aʿshā argued, such a respectable figure did not become more grave when in power, why should a judge? In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, MaribelFierro uses this source to show that Khushanī does not limit his account of judges’ behavior to their serious and pious actions but also includes their humorous natures. This range testifies both to the expansiveness of Khushanī’s work and to the diversity of judges active at the time.
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.