A judge named Shuraykh
A judge named Shuraykh
Here is another interesting story from the life of judge Shuraykh.
One day his son said to him, “Oh my father! Indeed, I am in litigation with certain people. Take a look at our matter. If the truth is on my side, then I will file a lawsuit against them. And if they are right, then I will come to agreement with them and give them what is due to them. And he told his father the whole story from beginning to end.
Shuraykh said, “Go and file a lawsuit against them.”
And he went to those people and invited them to go to court. They agreed, and when they all appeared in court, Shuraykh ruled in their favour.
When judge Shuraykh returned home with his son, the son said to him: “You have disgraced me, father. I swear by Allah ﷻ, if I had not consulted you before, I would not be reproaching you now.”
Shuraykh said, “Son, I swear by Allah ﷻ, you are dearer to me than the whole earth of people like them, but Almighty Allah is dearer to me than you. I was afraid that, if I immediately informed you that the truth was on their side, and you came to an agreement with them without going to court, then they may not receive something to which they are entitled. That is why I told you what I said.”
One day, a man asked Shuraykh’s son to vouch for him and he himself ran away so as not to answer to the court for his actions. And Shuraykh put his son in prison instead of that man and personally brought him food to prison every day.
“Tomorrow the oppressor will find out who is the loser...”
At times, judge Shuraykh was suspicious of certain witnesses, but he did not see a way to reject their testimony because there was no reason to call them unreliable. And he, striving for justice, told them before they testified, “Listen to me, and may Allah ﷻ guide you to the true path. In reality, it is you who are ruling against that person. Through you I protect myself from Fire. And you need even more to protect yourself from hellfire. Truly, you now have the right to refuse to testify and simply walk away.”
If they insisted on testifying, Shuraykh turned to the one against whom they were going to testify and said to him, “Know that I am making a decision on the basis of their testimony and at the same time I believe that you were treated unfairly but I cannot make decisions based on speculation, I make decisions based on the testimony of witnesses. And, truly, my decision does not make it permissible for you to do anything that Almighty Allah has prohibited.”
Shuraykh had a motto that he always repeated when dealing with legal proceedings, “Tomorrow the oppressor will find out who was left at a loss.” Verily, the oppressor will receive punishment and the oppressed will receive justice. And truly, I swear by Allah ﷻ that whoever gives up something for the sake of Allah ﷻ will not regret it.
Sincerity in everything
Shuraykh was sincere not only towards Allah ﷻ, His Messenger and His Book (Koran), but also towards ordinary believers.
One of them told the following story: “One day Shuraykh heard me complaining to a friend about what I had to endure. He took my hand, making me bend over to him and said, ‘Son, beware of complaining to anyone other than Almighty Allah. Truly, the one to whom you complain is either a friend or an enemy. If he is a friend, then you will only make him sad and, if he is an enemy, then you will give him a reason to gloat.’ Then he said, ‘Look at this eye of mine.’ With these words, he pointed to his eye and continued, ‘For fifteen years I have not been able to see either people or the road with it but I have not told anyone about it until now. When you have trouble, complain to the Almighty and seek consolation from Him, for, truly, He is the most worthy to whom one can turn for help and the closest of those to whom one calls out.”
One day Shuraykh saw a man asking something from another and said to him, “Son, whoever asks a person for something voluntarily agrees to slavery. If the one who is asked fulfills the request, then he will turn the one asking into his slave. And if he refuses him, then both of them will return humiliated - one will be humiliated by stinginess and the other by the refusal received. If you ask for something, then ask Allah ﷻ and if you ask for help, then also turn to Allah ﷻ, and know that no one has the ability to change anything and the power to do this except from Allah ﷻ.
Epidemic in Kufa
One day an epidemic broke out in Kufa. Shuraykh’s friend went to Najaf, wanting to avoid infection. Shuraykh wrote to him, “The place that you left will not bring your death closer and will not rob you of the days allotted to you. And, truly, the place to which you have gone is subject to the One who can do everything and from whom you cannot escape anywhere. Verily, you and I are on the carpet of the same Lord, and verily, Najaf is close to the One who possesses power.”
In addition to his other skills, Shuraykh was also a poet who wrote beautiful verses on important topics. They say that when his son was about ten years old, he loved to play. One day Shuraykh did not find him in the madrasa where he was supposed to study. It turned out that he had left there to look at the dogs.
When the boy returned home, Shuraykh asked him, “Have you prayed?”
He answered, “No.”
Then Shuraykh ordered him to bring paper and pen and wrote to his teacher the following: “He left prayer for the sake of the dogs, wanting to set them against each other, being with narrow-minded, nasty people. He will come to you tomorrow with this message. Know that it is similar to the message of al-Mutalammis (that means a man who was carrying a sealed message that contained an order to execute him). When he comes to you, then cure him through reprimand or the instruction of a wise and shrewd mentor. If you beat him with a rod, then do so no more than three times; after that, restrain your hand. And know that no matter what you do with him, his soul is very valuable to me, despite all the grief.”
May the Almighty be pleased with Umar bin al-Khattab, who adorned the judiciary with a beautiful pearl. Muslims still benefit from the light of his understanding of the commandments of Allah ﷻ and find the right path thanks to his understanding of the Sunna of the Messenger of Allah ﷻ.
And may Allah ﷻ have mercy on judge Shuraykh, who maintained justice among the people for sixty years, without oppressing anyone or deviating from the truth and without making any distinction between the king and the commoner.
