The ant continued, "Although it may seem a strong base, a society which is based on injustice, oppression and inequality, it cannot be durable and long lasting. Allah appoints His Prophets as guides for their Ummah in all their affairs. They also judge in the disputes of their people and met out jsutice which is indeed the backbone of any society. The Prophets, alaihissalam, create a society free from oppression and based on justice. Their judgements are intelligent and are based on the spiritual foresight, bestowed upon them by Allah.
So, let me tell you an incident in the time of Prophet David, alaihissalam. As we know, Allah gave to both Prophet David and Sulaiman, knowledge and wisdom. Prophet David was a just and righteous ruler who brought peace and prosperity to his people, and whom Allah honored as a messenger. Prophet Sulaiman was intelligent and wise from childhood. One day David, was sitting, as usual, solving the problems of his people when two men, one of whom had a field, came to him. The owner of the field said, "O dear Prophet! This man's sheep came to my field at night and ate up the grapes and I have come to ask for compensation." David asked the owner of the sheep, "Is this true?" He said, "Yes, sir." David said, "I have decided that you give him your sheep in exchange for the field." At that time, Sulaiman was a young boy of about eleven years. He was sitting near his father at the time.
Allah says,
Solomon, to whom Allah had given wisdom in addition to what he had inherited from his father, spoke up, "I have another opinion. The owner of the sheep should take the field to cultivate until the grapes grow, while the other man should take the sheep and make use of their wool and milk until his field is repaired. If the grapes grow, and the field returns to its former state, then the field owner should take his field and give back the sheep to their owner." David responded, "This is a sound judgment. Praise be to Allah for gifting you with wisdom."وَدَاوُدَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ إِذْ يَحْكُمَانِ فِي الْحَرْثِ إِذْ نَفَشَتْ فِيهِ غَنَمُ الْقَوْمِ وَكُنَّا لِحُكْمِهِمْ شَاهِدِينَ"And [mention] David and Solomon, when they judged concerning the field - when the sheep of a people overran it [at night], and We were witness to their judgement." - [QS.21:78]
فَفَهَّمْنَاهَا سُلَيْمَانَ وَكُلا آتَيْنَا حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُدَ الْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَالطَّيْرَ وَكُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ"And We gave understanding of the case to Solomon, and to each [of them] We gave judgement and knowledge. And We subjected the mountains to exalt [Us], along with David and [also] the birds. And We were doing [that]." - [QS.21:79]
Intelligence, juristic ability and foresight are not tied down to age. Sometimes a young person is able to reach to the depths of an issue but elders are unable to fathom its complexities. However, this does not imply that they are deficient in any way for it is Allah's wisdom that He gives to whom He will. Prophet Sulaiman was young, while Prophet David was his father and the elder, but Sulaiman was afforded the strong ability to reach to the truth. There is another example of this.
Narrated Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
كَانَتِ امْرَأَتَانِ مَعَهُمَا ابْنَاهُمَا، جَاءَ الذِّئْبُ فَذَهَبَ بِابْنِ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَقَالَتْ لِصَاحِبَتِهَا إِنَّمَا ذَهَبَ بِابْنِكِ. وَقَالَتِ الأُخْرَى إِنَّمَا ذَهَبَ بِابْنِكِ. فَتَحَاكَمَتَا إِلَى دَاوُدَ ـ عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ ـ فَقَضَى بِهِ لِلْكُبْرَى، فَخَرَجَتَا عَلَى سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ دَاوُدَ ـ عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلاَمُ ـ فَأَخْبَرَتَاهُ فَقَالَ ائْتُونِي بِالسِّكِّينِ أَشُقُّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا. فَقَالَتِ الصُّغْرَى لاَ تَفْعَلْ يَرْحَمُكَ اللَّهُ. هُوَ ابْنُهَا. فَقَضَى بِهِ لِلصُّغْرَى ". قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ وَاللَّهِ إِنْ سَمِعْتُ بِالسِّكِّينِ قَطُّ إِلاَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ، وَمَا كُنَّا نَقُولُ إِلاَّ الْمُدْيَةَ."There were two women with whom there were their two sons. A wolf came and took away the son of one of them. That lady said to her companion, 'The wolf has taken your son.' The other said, 'But it has taken your son.' So both of them sought the judgment of (the Prophet) David who judged that the boy should be given to the older lady. Then both of them went to (the Prophet) Sulaiman, son of David and informed him of the case. Sulaiman said, 'Give me a knife so that I may cut the child into two portions and give one half to each of you.' The younger lady said, 'Do not do so; may Allah bless you ! He is her child.' On that, he gave the child to the younger lady."
Abu Hurayrah added, "By Allah! I had never heard the word 'Sakkin' as meaning knife, except on that day, for we used to call it 'Mudya'." - [Sahih al-Bukhari]The incident took place in the times of the Prophet David. Two women had brought before him a case. A wolf had taken away the child of one of them and she claimed the child of the other as her own. Although she knew that her child was the one whom the wolf had taken away she disputed that the wolf had not taken her child but the other's. The other tried her best to explain it to her but she refused to see reason and that is why they brought their case to Prophet David.
Prophet David weighed their arguments and used his judgement to decide in favour of the elder of the two women. The facts were contrary to his judgement but a judge looks at the case and considers the arguments of the two parties. His judgement is sincere and honest. However, sometimes, one of the parties presents false testimony and misleads the judge on the basis of the arguments presented to him.
Naturally, the younger woman was dissatisfied with the judgement and the child was really hers. The case was thus brought before Prophet Sulaiman. He was told of the nature of the case and the judgement of his father. And he realised that the judgement was faulty. So, he adopted a novel method of arriving at the conclusion which was very effective. He asked one of his attendants to bring him a knife so that he may bisect the child and hand over one piece each to the women. Their
dispute would thus end.
Obviously, this was a psychological ploy and he had no plans to actually execute his judgement. His trick paid off. He had hardly pronounced his decision when the younger woman burst out, "Do not do that! May Allah show mercy to you! This child is hers, (not mine)." She may have known that Prophet Sulaiman would not do it and, indeed, could not do such a thing; yet, she blurted promptly and withdrew her claim to protect the child. Her plea was enough evidence in her favour and it proved that she was the real mother of the child for only a mother can express such feelings for her child and would resign herself to see it in the possession of another than being killed. The other woman did not say anything all this while, and this was a disclosure of her lack of love for the child.
The psychological approach of Prophet Sulaiman paid off and he found out the truth. The child belonged to the younger woman and the elder was a false claimant. So, he decided in favour of the younger woman.
This Hadith imparts to us many lessons. This story reveals a very high degree of sagacity and foresight with which judged. He possessed much wisdom and was very judicious.
It is not enough to consider the testimonies alone in arriving at a decision in any dispute. The judge has to observe the behaviour of the parties and examine them psychologically. He should try to investigate the matter deeply and find out the truth so that he may arrive at a just conclusion. This is why a judge is appointed not merely on the basis of his knowledge but his intelligence, foresight and ability to sift testimonies is also considered. Only then can people get true justice.
This case also proves that a judge may employ a psychological ploy to arrive at a conclusion. Prophet Sulaiman did exactly that and was able to pin point the real mother thereby. The sentiments of the real mother came out in the open while the behaviour of the other woman belied her claim and disclosed her falsehood. A guilty person speaks out by his own conduct.
The judgement also proves that one judge may rescind or overrule the decision of another judge if justice has not been done by him. Prophet Sulaiman repealed the judgement of Prophet David who was not only his father but also a Prophet.
If a case is complicated and there is doubt in statements, and arguments are inconclusive and testimonies are unhelpful, the judge must try to come to a conclusion through circumstantial evidences and outward indications. Prophet Sulaiman had done exactly that.
If a judge or jurist, having done his best, cannot dig out the truth and errs in his judgement then he is not to be blamed but, in fact, he is entitled to reward for his sincere efforts. Of course, his reward will be two-fold if he decides correctly while if his decision is incorrect then he will get only one reward for his effort.
This case also proves that the Prophets generally decided on their personal interpretation, not on the basis of revelation from Allah. If they had based their judgements on divine revelation the pronouncements of David and Sulaiman would not have been different. This is why sometimes the decisions of the Prophets were in favour of a wrong person as some Ahadith speak about the Prophet (ﷺ) himself passing such judgements. However, when there was an absolute doubt, Allah revealed the facts to His Prophets through revelation. This also tells us that the noble Prophets are not Knowers of the unseen. If they had known the unseen, Prophet David would not have passed the judgement that he did and we would not have heard of such judgements by the Prophet (ﷺ) himself.
It is possible that two decisions taken by Prophet David and Sulaiman were allowed in their shari'a, but the decision taken by Prophet Sulaiman was closer to the truth. That is why Allah praised Prophet Sulaiman for what was inspired to him. It was narrated from 'Abdullah bin 'Amr that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,
The ant then said, "O my brothers and sisters, the society which the noble prophets promote, has justice as its main feature. The oppressed is given justice, for justice and fairness alone determines whether a civilised society is praiseworthy or condemned. The Shari'a of Islam holds justice and fair treatment as most significant part of social living. It is the soul of Islamic society. And Allah knows best."أَنَّ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنَ دَاوُدَ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَمَّا بَنَى بَيْتَ الْمَقْدِسِ سَأَلَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ خِلاَلاً ثَلاَثَةً سَأَلَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حُكْمًا يُصَادِفُ حُكْمَهُ فَأُوتِيَهُ وَسَأَلَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مُلْكًا لاَ يَنْبَغِي لأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ فَأُوتِيَهُ وَسَأَلَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حِينَ فَرَغَ مِنْ بِنَاءِ الْمَسْجِدِ أَنْ لاَ يَأْتِيَهُ أَحَدٌ لاَ يَنْهَزُهُ إِلاَّ الصَّلاَةُ فِيهِ أَنْ يُخْرِجَهُ مِنْ خَطِيئَتِهِ كَيَوْمِ وَلَدَتْهُ أُمُّهُ"When Sulaiman bin Dawud finished building Bait Al-Maqdis, he asked Allah for three things, judgement that was in harmony with His judgement, and he was given that. And he asked Allah for a dominion that no one after him would have, and he was given that. And when he finished building the Masjid he asked Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, that no one should come to it, intending only to pray there, but he would emerge free of sin as the day his mother bore him." - [Sunan an-Nasa'i; Sahih]
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأقْرَبِينَ إِنْ يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًا فَاللَّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلا تَتَّبِعُوا الْهَوَى أَنْ تَعْدِلُوا وَإِنْ تَلْوُوا أَوْ تُعْرِضُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا"O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted." - [QS.4:135]
- Maulana Hifzur Rahman Soeharwy, Qasasul Ambiyaa, Idara Impex
- Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Isha'at
