Day: December 23, 2024

Ali as Chief Justice

The keen eye of the Holy Prophet had early dis-
cerned in Ali all those potentialities of wisdom, moderation, foresight and impartiality that go to the making of a good judge. Ali was first made Chief Justice during the Ministry of the Holy Prophet, an office which he held under the three men who preceeded him as Caliph. For fifteen years Ali had striven assiduously to establish the ‘Ummah’ as a corporate entity in right relationship with God, and with faith in God permeating every part of daily living. “Fear none but God” was the principle upon which Ali acted as judge, a principle which enabled him to dispense judgment impartially.

Famous Judgements of Ali

Some of the judgments of Ali have made legal history. For example, in the reign of Umar a case was brought before him in which two men entrusted their goods to a women on the express understanding that the goods. were not to be returned unless both of them came jointly to fetch them back. After some time one of them came to the woman and deposed on solemn affirmation that his other friend had died and that the goods should be returned to him. In vain did the woman object to the return of goods but at the intervention of some of the local inhabitants she at long last agreed to return the goods to the claimant.

After a few weeks the man reported dead came to the woman to demand the goods deposited with her in trust. When the woman informed him that his other friend had taken them back, he took case to the court of Caliph Umar. The Caliph in great wrath held the woman responsible for the loss and said, “Why did you return the goods to a single man when they had definitely laid down the condition that they should receive the goods jointly.” The woman pleaded her innocence and produced witnesses to establish her bonafide intentions. The Caliph was in a great fix and he referred the case to his Chief Justice, Ali. Ali needed to give the case only one hearing. First he asked the plaintiff,was the you “Did you lay down the conditions with the accused, while entrusting the goods to her for safe deposit, that she should hold them in trust for you both and, that she was to only give the goods jointly to both of and not individually?” “Yes, your worship. This very condition” was the reply. “Well” said Ali, “Bring your other friend here so that the aforesaid goods may be delivered to you jointly.” In the silence which fell on the court room it would have been possible. to hear a pin drop. With downcast eyes the plaintiff silently left the court room, realising that Ali had at once detected the ruse by which he too had wanted to cheat both his friend and the woman.

The fame of Ali’s impartiality as Chief Justice spread far and wide. Had circumstances allowed him to reign peacably the world would have witnessed a unique combination of divine and secular justice. In the cases which were brought to his court, Ali made no distinction between friend or foe, between his own relatives and persons unknown to him.

An interesting story is told of a case in which Ali was himself the plaintiff. It concerned a valuable coat of mail, lost by Ali at Siffin and picked up by a Christian who then wore it himself. Ali recognising his armour on the Christian, took the miscreant to the Qadi of the city, demanding that the culprit should be dealt with according to the law. When the Qadi asked the prisoner if it belonged to him the prisoner pleaded “not guilty” saying “My possession of it is clear proof of my ownership.”The Qadi then asked Ali to substantiate his charge by producing witnesses, which Ali was unable to do. The Qadi was now in a great fix for he was loathe to accuse Ali of having brought a false charge against the Christian yet unable to convict the accused for lack of proof. Seeing the dilemma in which the Qadi found himself Ali said. “The Judge ought not to be influenced by the dignity of any party; merit alone should be the criterion for deciding any issue.” Summoning up his courage the Qadi then pronounced judgment

as follows:-

“In the absence of any conclusive evidence-and this the Caliph has failed to produce-the suit is dismissed.”

The Christian walked out of the court a free man but after going only a few paces he turned back and, going up to Ali, said, “O Commander of the Faithful, verily the coat of mail is yours. I got it on the battlefield of Siffin. I only wanted to see how judicial cases are decided in your courts. My Lord, pray stretch forth your hand for I intend to take the oath of allegiance and accept Islam at your hands.” So saying he took the oath of fealty to Ali, and accepted Islam. Ali then presented to him that same coat of mail and also a horse, saying “Blessed are thou indeed. Previously thou wert a soldier of a secular king but henceforth thou hast accepted enlisment as a soldier of God.” The new convert is said to have joined Ali’s army, fighting in all Ali’s battles until on the battlefield of Nahrawan he was killed, thus obtaining a martyr’s crown.

Ali was also very concerned that his magistrates should also follow the principle of strictest impartiality, issuing very strict instructions that they should never take bribes and never pronounce judgments until they were fully satisfied with the merits of the case.

Punishment as a Deterrent

In spite of his humane attitude to his fellow-beings, Ali believed in the use of punishment as a deterrent and was not averse to meting out drastic punishments to those who were found defiantly bold and lawless in their doings, repeatedly disobedient or unrepentantly licentious. These punishments were often retaliatory in character as being the kind the criminals would be mostly likely to understand. In this Ali was retaining the policy of Umar, who was the first to resort to such violent and vigorous measures.

Ali as an Administrator

During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Ali gained a great deal of administrative experience. As Caliph his letters to his provincial governors and district officers show how well aware he was of the temptations and procrastinations that beset the administrative official everywhere. His orders emphasised the need to be prompt in correspondence, and district officers were warned to be quick in carrying out the orders of the central government and prompt to succour the helpless and needy, and never to put off till tomorrow the work they could do that day. He asked his governors not to keep their subjects at arm’s length and not to retain guards at their residence but to let everyone have free access to them at all times. He also advised them to disguise themselves and go freely amongst their subjects so that they could acquaint themselves with the true conditions of the people. They were further expected to develop the economic resources of their territory and above all they were to refrain from accepting any bribe or illegal gratification whatsoever. time, a deputation of men waited on Ali and

At one in their interview with the Caliph complained against the high handed measures of their provincial governor Ziyad bin Simeyah, at which Ali wrote the following letter to him:

“I have received a serious complaint against thee and if it is true, then thou hast certainly displeased Almighty God, defied thy Caliph, debased they integrity and defamed thy good name. It is high time that thou should report to me with thy account books and ledgers.”

Ali also laid great emphasis on the need for dealing speedily with all complaints, holding that justice delayed was in itself a grave injustice and was equivalent to justice being denied.