SHARIAsource

Ibn Ḥārith al-Khushanī recorded the following case as a ḥikāya, an anonymous report: A Christian appeared before the judge Aslam b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, petitioning to be executed. But he was rebuked because he had committed no crime. The text explains that the Christian’s behaviour was motivated by his desire to die in imitation of Jesus, as an act of virtue (faḍīla), although—as our source points out—Jesus himself did not seek martyrdom. In response to the judge’s admonishment, the Christian explained that he would not in truth die. While his shibh, or likeness (i.e., a body that resembled his body), might perish, his real self would ascend to the heavens upon execution. The judge aimed to disprove this theory by ordering the Christian flogged. Thus, the judge illustrated that the Christian could indeed suffer pain and likewise would suffer death if a sword were to cut his neck.

Translation

Ibn Ḥārith said: I heard someone recounting that a Christian went [to the judge] asking to be put to death. Aslam reprimanded him asking him: “Woe unto you! Who provoked you to ask for your own death if you have committed no crime?” The stupidity and ignorance of the Christian led him to take upon himself a virtuous act (faḍīla) when nothing of the kind was attributed to Jesus, son of Mary – God bless Muḥammad and Jesus. The Christian told the judge: “You assume that if you execute me I would be the one killed.” The judge asked him: “Who else could be the one killed?” The Christian answered: “A likeness of me (shibhī) that was cast on a body is what you will execute, while my real self in that same hour will directly go to heaven.” Aslam then told him: “We lack sufficient information to have an opinion on the [outcome] that you argue for,[1]but you lack what it takes to make you realize that you are deceiving yourself. There is however a way to reveal what is right to us and to you.” The Christian asked the judge: “What could that be?” The judge Aslam summoned his court assistants (aʿwān) and told them: “Take the whip,” then ordered them to strip the Christian which they did, and then ordered them to beat him. When the Christian felt the flogging he became agitated and screamed. Aslam asked him: “On which back is the flogging taking place?” “On mine!” said the Christian. Aslam told him: “In the same way the sword will cut your neck, don’t be deluded into believing otherwise.”

Ibn Ḥārith al-Khushanī recorded the following case as a ḥikāya, an anonymous report: A Christian appeared before the judge Aslam b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, petitioning to be executed. The anecdote offers insight into the historical role of judges during a period of religious dissent in the Umayyad Caliphate, while the author's narrative voice demonstrates past judicial approaches to rationality, humor, and violent penalization. 

This text is part of Maribel Fierro, The Judges of al-Andalus, forthcoming.

A Toledan man named Ibn Ḥātim was accused of being a heretic by sixty witnesses on the initiative of a fellow Toledan called Ibn Labīd al-Murābiṭ. The judge consulted with the local jurists, and following their legal opinions, he sentenced the accused to death. However, he granted the accused the right to challenge the witnesses (iʿdhār). Ibn Ḥātim escaped from Toledo and found refuge in the neighboring kingdom of Badajoz. Ibn Labīd went after him, carrying a copy of the judge’s sentence (tasjīl) along with the legal opinions of a number of non-Toledan jurists. In Badajoz, the ruler withdrew his support from Ibn Ḥātim, who fled again, this time to Cordoba. While in Cordoba, the “moral” police arrested Ibn Ḥātim, and the judge imprisoned him, giving him two months to prove his innocence. Unable to do so, Ibn Ḥātim was crucified alive. A number of legal issues arise in the course of this case: should the process of iʽdhār—the right to challenge witnesses—be granted to those accused of heresy (zandaqa)? Should refuge be granted to them? What happens with the estate or inheritance of an executed zindīq? Can a judge reverse a sentence given by another judge? The source is a collection of court cases by Andalusi scholar Ibn Sahl (d. 486/1093), and it is based on information directly available to the compiler, who was also a witness of most of the events described.

In this excerpt from Quḍāt Qurṭuba, the Andalusian scholar Khushanī (d. 361/971) reports an anecdote about the judge of Cordoba, Yaḥyā b. Maʿmar (d. 229/843), who, during a religious festival in Cordoba, ordered his assistants to move his carpet forward so that the notables (ashrāf al-nās) and the officials of the Umayyad administration (khidmat al-sulṭān) who had hurried to take up positions near the carpet were left behind. His action prompted admiration and much talk as a clever trick with which Yaḥyā b. Maʿmar outwitted the powerful in favor of average Muslims.In another version of the same account reported by Qāḍī ʿĪyāḍ in hisTartīb al-madārik, the judge, by surrounding himself with people more interested in the religious duty he was performing than in his person, effectively rid himself of his opponents, who fell victim to the cleverness of the trick. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Maribel Fierro makes reference to the two versions of the anecdote to emphasize the comedic nature of the judge’s actions and the scene as a whole, and to develop the character of the judge.

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.

In this excerpt fromQuḍāt Qurṭuba, the Andalusian scholar Khushanī (d. 361/971) reports an anecdote about the judge of Cordoba, Yaḥyā b. Maʿmar (d. 229/843), who, during a religious festival in Cordoba, ordered his assistants to move his carpet forward so that the notables (ashrāf al-nās) and the officials of the Umayyad administration (khidmat al-sulṭān) who had hurried to take up positions near the carpet were left behind. His action prompted admiration and much talk as a clever trick with which Yaḥyā b. Maʿmar outwitted the powerful in favor of average Muslims.In another version of the same account reported by Qāḍī ʿĪyāḍ in hisTartīb al-madārik, the judge, by surrounding himself with people more interested in the religious duty he was performing than in his person, effectively rid himself of his opponents, who fell victim to the cleverness of the trick. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Maribel Fierro makes reference to the two versions of the anecdote to emphasize the comedic nature of the judge’s actions and the scene as a whole, and to develop the character of the judge.

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.

In this excerptfromQuḍāt Qurṭuba, Khushanī recounts an anecdote involving al-Naḍar b. Salama al-Kalāʿī (d. 302/914), who served as a judge in Cordoba. While a lawsuit was taking place in the court, a certain Ibn Raḥmūn, known for his love of jesting, kept making jokes and funny remarks, provoking the laughter of those present. Al-Naḍar not only did not stop him but even smiled at Ibn Raḥmūn’s comments. The litigant who was the object of Ibn Raḥmūn’s jokes complained that Ibn Raḥmūn constantly insulted him and his mother. Nevertheless, Ibn Raḥmūn continued to crack jokes in court, and the judge tolerated his behavior. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Maribel Fierro uses this anecdote to demonstrate that funny remarks, jokes, and jesting were acceptable in courts and that judges did not necessarily put a stop to such behavior.

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.

In this excerpt from the introduction toQuḍāt Qurṭuba, Khushanī (d. 361/971) praises the prince al-Ḥakam, who had asked him to compose this and other works on juridical matters, for his decision to encourage the publication of information on previous generations of judges, his care for genealogy, and his overall attention to the merits of historical knowledge. Khushanī details how he gathered information about Cordoban judges—namely, by approaching contemporaries who had memorized the actions and sayings of these judges—and then describes the nature of the information gathered. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Maribel Fierro usesKhushanī’s characterization of the judges as intelligent, fair, cautious, and attentive, among other praiseworthy traits, and his transparency regarding the sources of his information to establish Khushanī’s legitimacy as a source, to highlight the seriousness with which Khushanī approached his task, and to provide general information about what the learned people of Cordoba at the time of Khushanī’s writing thought of their previous judges.

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.

In this excerptfromQuḍāt Qurṭuba, Khushanī recounts an anecdote involving the judge Muḥammad b. Bashīr. Upon his appointment to the judgeship in Cordoba, the judge had ten cards for summons prepared with his seal (ṭābiʿ), and he used these until he died. Al-Aʿshā, who was known for his wit, asked of every friend of the judge that he met, “When are you going to meet the ten auctioneers (dallāl)? When are you going to visit the ten agents?” When Muḥammad b. Bashīr learned of this, he was displeased and told al-Aʿshā to desist. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, MaribelFierro uses this anecdote as an example of judges’ being subjected to jokes and ridicule.

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.