Judicial Institutions - Contributions of 3rd Caliph Uthman Bin Affan

The time of 'Uthman is regarded as a continuation of the era of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, which is important because of its direct connection and closeness to the era of the Prophet Muhammad (Sallahu Alaihi Waslam). The time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs in general, and particularly with regard to the judiciary at that time, was a continuation of the judiciary and of everything that had been established at the time of the Prophet (Sallahu Alaihi Wasalam) which was applied completely, in letter and in spirit. The importance of the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs was manifested in two basic issues:

1. Adherence to the texts of the Prophet's era, following them and persisting in adhering to them.
2. Formation of new judiciary bodies to help reinforce the pillars of the vast Islamic state and to deal with various new circumstances.[1]

With the help of Allah and with his own genius, 'Umar was able to develop the judicial institutions in the Islamic state, so they acquired guidelines and regulations, from which the Caliph 'Uthman & benefited when appointing judges and determining their salaries, judicial specialties, the qualities required of a judge, the sources of judicial rulings, and how judges are to deal with evidence. There were also legal precedents from the time of Abu Bakr and 'Umar which judges made use of at the time of 'Uthman.

When 'Uthman was appointed caliph, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zayd ibn Thabit and al-Sa’ib ibn Yazeed (may Allah be pleased with them) were in charge of the judiciary in Madina. Some researchers say that 'Uthman did not allow them any independence in passing judgment in any case as the situation had been at the time of 'Umar bin Khattab; rather, he would examine the cases himself and consult these men and others about the ruling.

If their opinion coincided with his, he would pass judgment, otherwise, he would examine the matter further. This means that 'Uthman relieved these three judges of their duties, but he kept them on as consultants in every dispute that was referred to him, but he consulted others too. Some researchers suggest that there is no clear text to show that they were relieved of their duties, and the most that have been narrated indicates that 'Uthman approved of the judges appointed by 'Umar in Madinah, but he reduced their burden by looking at many serious cases himself, in consultation with them. The reason why there is a difference of opinion about what 'Uthman did is that there are conflicting reports concerning this issue.

• It was narrated by al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan and by Wakee' in Akhbar al-Qudat that 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'eed said: My grandfather told me: I saw 'Uthman ibn 'Affan in the mosque when the two disputants came to him. He said to one of them: Go and call 'Ali. And he said to the other: Go and call Talhah ibn 'Ubayd-Allah, az-Zubayr and 'Abd al-Rahman. So they came and sat down, and he said to (the two disputants): Speak; then he turned to (the three men) and said: Tell me what you think. If they said what coincided with his opinion, he would go ahead and pass judgment, and if not, he would examine it further and they would leave after saying salam. And it is not known that 'Uthman appointed any other judge in Madina until he was killed.
• It says in Tareekh at-Tabari, when mentioning the deeds of 'Uthman: At the time of 'Uthman, Zayd ibn Thabit was in charge of the judiciary which indicates that 'Uthman kept Zayd in charge of the judiciary and that he had permission to pass judgment in disputes. So long as it is possible to reconcile between the reports, it is better to accept them both, rather than accepting only one without any reason. They may be reconciled by noting that 'Uthman retained the judges in Madina to pass judgments in some cases, but he kept some other, more difficult cases for himself and made it his job to deal with them, in consultation with his companions, including his judges.[2]

'Uthman sometimes appointed judges for different regions, such as when he appointed Ka'b ibn Soor as the chief judge of Basra, and sometimes he left the judiciary to the governor, such as when he asked his governor in Basra to judge between the people in addition to his tasks as governor. That was after he had dismissed Ka'b ibn Soor. Similarly, Ya'la ibn Umayyah was both governor and judge of San'a.[3] lt It may be noted that some governors chose judges for themselves, and the judges were answerable to them, which indicates that governors had greater authority than judges during his caliphate.[4] The reports narrated from 'Uthman, his letters to his governors, commanders of troops on the borders and to the Muslims in general, suggest that it is most likely that he put governors in charge of the judiciary, to take care of the matter themselves, or to appoint those who were able to deal with it.[5] Although we find a great of correspondence between 'Umar and the judges of the various regions, we find that such correspondence between 'Uthman and the judges was very rare.[6]

'Uthman said to Ibn 'Umar: Judge between people. He said: I will not judge between two people or lead two men in prayer. Did you not hear the Prophet (Sallahu Alaihi Wasalam) say:

"Whoever seeks refuge with All& has indeed sought (an excellent) refuge ."

'Uthman said: Yes (I heard that). He said: Then I seek refuge with Allah from being appointed b you. So he let him off and said: Do not tell anyone about that.[7]

Some history books state that one of the legacies of 'Uthman was the setting up of courthouses, as is clear from a report narrated by Ibn 'Asakir from Abu Salih, the freed slave of al-'Abbas, who said: al-'Abbas sent me to 'Uthman to invite him, and I found him in the courthouse ... If this is saheeh, then 'Uthman was the first one to set up courthouses in Islam. The two caliphs before him used to hear cases in the mosque, as was well known.[8]

The most famous judges during the caliphate of 'Uthman was;

1. Zayd ibn Thabit (Madinah)
2. Abu'l-Darda' (Damascus)
3. Ka'b ibn Soor (Basra)
4. Abu Moosa al'Ash'ari (Basra - in addition to being governor thereof)
5. Shurayh (Kufah)
6. Ya'la ibn Umayyah(Yemen)
7. 'Uthman ibn Qays ibn Abi'l-'Aas (Egypt).[9]

The Rightly Guided Caliph also left behind fiqhi rulings in the fields of qisas, offenses, hudood punishments, ta'zeer punishments, acts of worship, and transactions between people, which had a clear effect on the schools of fiqh. There follow some rulings issued by 'Uthman, which will be discussed in the upcoming episodes. InshAllah

 Reference

[1] Tareekh al-Qada'fi'l-Islam by al-Zuhayli, p. 83, 84

[2] an-Nuzum al-Islami, 1/378; Waqii'i' Nadwat Abi Zabi, 1405 AH.

[3] 'Asr al-l(hilqah al-Rishidah, p. 143

[4] an-Nuzum al-Islamiyyah, 1/378

[5] Al-Bidayah wa’n Nihayah, 7/154

[6] al-Wilayah 'ala al-Buldan, 2/92

[7] Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, no. 475 (1/66). It is Hasan li Ghayrihi

[8] Ashhar Mashaheer al-Islam, 4/740

[9] ‘Asr al-Khilafah al-Rashidah, p. 159, 160