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CHAPTER FOUR

THE METHOD OF THE ADHERENTS OF THE TRUTH WHEN THE CORRECT RULING ON AN ISSUE IS NOT KNOWN

28 The firmest evidence on which I rely in this chapter and the soundest argument I cite for the point I have undertaken to prove in this book, after the Book of God and the Practice of His Prophet Muḥammad, is what the Imam al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, the Commander of the Faithful, God’s blessings upon him and his pure forefathers, the upright guides, entrusted to me in a letter of appointment which he wrote to confer upon me the office of judge. I have seen fit to record the text of this document in this book because it provides proof of the point I set out to make in it and because it is extremely instructive and profound in meaning. Moreover, it is among those writings which he, God’s blessings upon him, undertook to compose himself, and I am not aware that any such letter exists among earlier letters of appointment to the judiciary. I have also seen fit, in addition to presenting the proof it contains for the arguments of this chapter, to perpetuate his eternal remembrance in this book, and in doing so I also gain perpetual remembrance and eternal honor through the praiseworthy qualities that the chosen Ward of God attributed to me therein. This is the verbatim text of the decree:

29 In the name of God, the Merciful and the Beneficent

This is a decree from the servant and Ward of God, Maʿadd Abū Tamīm al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, the Commander of the Faithful, to the judge al- Nuʿmān ibn Muḥammad.

30 The Commander of the Faithful, because God has selected him for the lofty position of the caliphate and the exalted station of the Imamate, made him a shining lamp on His earth by which people might be guided and by whose light the path might be illuminated, and set him up as a landmark for His creation who might uphold His right, plant firmly the pillars of faith, confirm the covenants of Islam, and clarify the laws of his forefather Muḥammad the Messenger of God, has seen fit to exalt the status of the judiciary to the extent that God did so and to set forth the status of those whom he has appointed to it and considered qualified therefor, according to their entitlement on account of their piety, good administration, and freedom from corruption, so that whoever among them behaves properly and engages in sensible conduct, who is grateful for the favors he has received from his Lord, God, and from the Commander of the Faithful, his Imam, may increase in good behavior, and he who strives to do what will result in praise and recognition may yet increase his efforts. May God grant the Commander of the Faithful success, guide him aright, help him, and support him.

31 The Commander of the Faithful, having observed your piety, religiosity, trustworthiness, freedom from corruption, and praiseworthy conduct, hereby entrusts to you sole responsibility for judicial matters in al-Manṣūrīyah and its attached districts. He grants you absolute authority to examine the cases of those who submit grievances to you among the inhabitants of the cities where judges and magistrates are found as well as in all other regions and authorizes you to dispense justice against those for whom it is required and render rights to those who deserve them. Upon witnessing your sincere commitment to and devoted pursuit of the truth in your rulings, the admirable traits that trials have revealed of you, the mettle that tests have proven in you, and the noble deeds that you have performed for the cause of justice, he has deemed it proper to confirm, buttress, strengthen, reinforce, and augment your appointment in a public decree issued to you to that effect. He does this so that the hopes of plaintiffs before you might be raised, those against whom your sentences are to be carried out might remain in awe, and the hopes of those who would contravene justice by shunning your court and resorting to other judges might be dashed.

32 Let your command be enforced and your verdict be carried out for all those who raise grievances to you or against whom grievances are raised before you among all inhabitants of the territories of the Commander of the Faithful and the entire population of his provinces, both those near to him and those far from him. Let none of the judges of al-Mahdiyyah and al-Qayrawān overstep his bounds to hear the suit of any inhabitant of the surrounding rural districts, since the Commander of the Faithful had granted absolute authority to each judge in those two cities to hear cases in the city where he is located and the immediate environs, but not the right to transgress that to hear cases from areas outside th0se two, for he granted authority to other judges to hear cases from the outlying regions of their cities. Let none of them appoint a judge or trustee in any of the districts where there are no judges, and let none of them have jurisdiction over members of the entourage of the Commander of the Faithful, the various classes of his slaves, or the army stationed in his presence, but let the jurisdiction in all of this be yours, entrusted entirely to you without restriction. None of the other judges may contest you in this, and if one of the parties to a suit brings his case to you, and the other to another judge besides you, then the one who has brought suit before a judge other than you must bring the case with his opponent before you, willingly or otherwise.

33 Know that this is the considered opinion and command of the Commander of the Faithful: Submit and follow it, preface your commands and exhortations with it, and read the decree of the Commander of the Faithful on the pulpit, so that it might be disseminated among the populace and become generally known among the townsfolk and the inhabitants of rural regions, near and far. Proceed according to the charge the Commander of the Faithful has entrusted to you, continuing to dispense and uphold justice as God enabled you and guided you aright therein in the past, and imposing the canonical punishments on those who deserve them, treating the tyrannical with severity, championing what is right, supporting the oppressed, helping the forlorn, fortifying the weak, drawing in your rulings and judgments on the Book of God, «which invalidity cannot approach, either from before or from behind—a Revelation from One Wise and Praiseworthy.»⁷³ For in it God explained His permitted and forbidden things, clarified His rulings, and illuminated His landmarks. Whenever you do not find the ruling regarding something in God’s Book or in the Practice of the forefather of the Commander of the Faithful, Muḥammad the Messenger of God, may God, the Lord of all Generations, bless him and his family, seek it among the opinions of the Imams from his pure progeny, the devout and rightly guided ones, the forefathers of the Commander of the Faithful, may the blessings of God be upon them all, to whom God entrusted the safeguarding of His religion, in whom He deposited the treasures of His knowledge and the secrets of His revelation, and whom He made guides for the believers, a light for all lands, lamps shining in the murk, leading out of the labyrinth of blindness and the gloom of perdition, the exemplary path to be followed in all matters, both spiritual and mundane.

34 Whenever something continues to perplex you and thus be difficult for you, and remains obscure and thus intractable, refer it in the final instance to the Commander of the Faithful, so that he might direct you to the correct ruling on the issue, so that you might adopt it and act upon it accordingly, for he is the remnant of the Caliphs who were guided by God and the descendant of the Rightly Guided Imams, for God, exalted and sublime be His praise, has decreed that people consult them, draw from their knowledge, and refer matters of importance to them. God said: «Had they referred it to the Messenger and to the Ones in Authority among them, then those who derived it from them would have known it.»⁷⁴ He, glorious be His name, said: «So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not know.»⁷⁵ The eloquent Prophet and the truthful Messenger, Muḥammad, said, “I have left among you two weighty matters, the Book of God and my progeny, the People of my House. You will not go astray as long as you hold fast to them, for they will not separate until they approach the heavenly pool.”⁷⁶ He who adopts as guides God’s Wards in His earth has been led to the correct path, has grasped the strongest link, and has earned the fullest share of the blessings of this world and the next.

35 Open your door to litigants: remove obstacles between them and you, address them in a welcoming manner, extend your sessions for them, call yourself to patience with their disputes and conflicts, and avoid showing aversion for the opposing parties or vexation in your verdicts. Treat high and low alike with regard to access to your person, permission to approach you, and the obligation to maintain distance from you, and also with regard to your mien, your manner of speech, and the ways in which you listen, inquire, and explain. Do all this so that your impartiality and your justice might encompass and include them all. The powerless litigant should feel secure against injustice on your part, confident that you will treat him fairly, and reassured that his proof will not be blocked before you, while the powerful litigant should despair of your favoring him and so lose all hope of attaining what is not rightly his.

36 Be firm in your words and deeds. Advance slowly and surely in your affairs and eschew haste; proceed deliberately and avoid carelessness. Watch over the condition of your lower soul to keep your carnal instincts in check. Examine your performance in order to perfect it, to your credit, and in order to safeguard your verdicts from flaws that will prevent their being upheld. Let those by whose attestation you overturn earlier verdicts⁷⁷ be renowned for their trustworthiness and devotion and noted for their veracity and continence, and let those whom you select to assist you in your affairs and to undertake your duties be distinguished by their piety and chastity and reputed for their probity and knowledge of the law.⁷⁸ Scrutinize their actions and conditions at all times, and examine their affairs in such a way that you become apprised of the true state of each one: Does he follow your opinions and practice according to your doctrines, or does he contradict your commands and violate your prohibitions? Do this so that you might recompense him as he deserves for his praiseworthy or blameworthy conduct. Those who are trustworthy and honest will become more perspicacious concerning their affairs and content with their circumstances, while those who have violated their religion, betrayed their trust, ignored their good fortune, and cast away what was best for them will take heed from the punishment of others. Examine well matters of inheritance that are brought before you for judgment. Safeguard the property of orphans that is placed under your control, dispose of it as the law requires, and maintain and guard it against squander and loss. In doing this you should seek the guidance of God in all of your affairs, beseech His assistance, be ever heedful of His wrath, and entrust your affairs to Him in all the various situations that befall you. The Commander of the Faithful beseeches God to grant you the grace of His assistance and guidance, for He is the Munificent and Generous One.

37 Enscribed on Monday, three days before the end of the month of Rabiʿ al-Awwal, in the year Three Hundred and Forty-Three [August 1, 954]. God bless Muḥammad His Prophet, His Chosen and Elect, and the Pious Ones among his progeny and keep them.

38 That which the Commander of the Faithful, God bless him, stated, that God set forth in His Book His permitted and forbidden things and His legal rulings, is what has been discussed above, and both the Book of God and the report of the Messenger of God attest to this. The same may be said of what the Imam, may God prolong his exalted status, commanded: That which was difficult and confusing for me should be referred to him. That as well is what the Book of God has pronounced, and the report of the Messenger of God has been cited to that effect above. The case of the Rightly Guided Imams among the People of the House of the Messenger of God was similar, both in ancient times, and in the time of al-Mahdī, God’s blessings be upon him, and those Imams who came after him, with all those whom they appointed as judge. They appointed them on this principle, and the contents of the decree of my appointment by al-Manṣūr, God bless him, were similar:

39 Adopt as guide the Book of God concerning what He commanded and prohibited, and what He declared permitted and forbidden. Concerning that for which you find no explicit ruling in it, follow the Practice of Muḥammad, God bless him, and the doctrines of the guiding Imams, the People of his House, God bless them. If a question becomes difficult for you and you cannot determine an answer, then bring it to our attention so that we may instruct you what to do concerning it. Seek help from God, and He will help you. Seek guidance from Him, and He will guide you. Ask Him to provide for you, and He will provide what suffices you, for He guards over those who side with Him and provides for those who depend on Him and seek provision from Him. The reward of those who do good works for His sake and earn His approval is never lost with Him.

40 The Imams, peace be upon them, commanded us to act in accordance with the Book of God and the Practice of His Messenger Muḥammad regarding that which was clear and obvious to appointed officials and to refer to the Imams that which was unclear to them, just as God commanded us to do in His Book and in the utterances of His Messenger. They did not command us to resort to analogy, speculative reason, preference, personal judgment, legal interpretation, or anything else that the Sunnis have professed, commanded, and adopted.

41 There is no difference of opinion among them about the fact that he who does not know something concerning his religion but knows that someone else knows it must ask that person and learn from him that which he does not know. In such a fashion they acquired what they allege is religious knowledge and derived it from those whom they consider more knowledgeable about it than themselves, because it is neither possible nor permissible for them to inquire about it, or to acquire it, from someone whom they know to be ignorant. For is not he who does not know how to resolve an issue that he faces tantamount to someone who is ignorant of it? How could it be permissible for him to refer the question to himself and to devise his own legal interpretation, as they call it, employ analogy, or resort to preference, selecting whatever view he deems best, and follow that, when beforehand he was utterly ignorant about the question, and when they consider it forbidden to consult and refer to ignorant people? If the true ruling could possibly lie in what a man prefers and considers correct, and arrives at through individual legal interpretation of the issue, then so could the fundamental principles of the religion. Otherwise, how could it be allowed for a minor point of the religious law without also being allowed for one of its fundamental principles? But if that were permissible, then the adherents of every sect, faith, and religion would be on the true path, because all of them would have viewed what they embraced as their faith as preferable, adopted it as a consequence of mere individual interpretation, and arrived at it merely through their own judgment. God the Exalted said,«They consider that they are of sound opinion; nevertheless, they are liars.»⁷⁹

42 God revealed His Book, gathered together in it all the religious obligations that he imposed on the worshipers, clarified in it that which He saw fit to clarify, and left ambiguous in it that which He saw fit to leave ambiguous. He did this in order to compel the worshipers thereby to need those whom He made superior to them and obedience to whom He imposed as an obligation of the faith, and in order to guide them to the Imams. He taught the Imams exclusively knowledge of the religion, and caused the believers to need the Imams in that regard. Were it not for that fact, people would all be equal in knowledge, and no one among them would be superior or inferior in learning. God said: «These are similes which We coin for the people, yet only the knowledgeable comprehend them»⁸⁰ and «So ask the People of Knowledge if you do not know.»⁸¹ He did not say, “Ask yourselves, O ignorant people,” or, “Refer what you do not know to yourselves.”

43 The Sunnis have differed in opinion regarding the identity of the People of Knowledge whom God commanded believers to consult, and concerning the Ones in Authority whom God commanded the believers to obey. One group of them said that they are the jurists, meaning their colleagues. One should respond to them: Those whom you have indicated differ concerning that about which they are asked, and some of them consider lawful what others of them consider forbidden. So is it permissible, in your view, that God might command that those who are known to differ in opinion be consulted? If they are asked and then issue differing opinions in response, whose opinion among them should be accepted by the petitioner as correct? Is it permissible that the truth lie in all their opinions, or only in the opinions of some of them? Regarding this point a lengthy discussion is required, and this chapter is not the place to treat it exhaustively. God willing, we will present as much of it as is appropriate in the refutation of those who espouse the use of legal interpretation. We have already mentioned above the words of God in which He censured and prohibited difference of opinion, so how could He possibly command His worshipers to accept opinions from those who differ concerning His religion, when He faults them in His Book?

44 Others said: «The Ones in Authority» whom God ordered be obeyed are the commanders of military expeditions.⁸² One should respond to them: Obedience to commanders of military expeditions is necessary if they are appointed by someone to whom obedience is obligatory. An order that commanders must be obeyed issued by the one who appoints them commanders over their men actually applies only to the men over whom they were appointed; it should not go beyond them to apply to anyone else who does not belong to the military expedition. This statement by God, however, is generally applicable to all the believers. God said: «O ye who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and the Ones in Authority among you.»⁸³ He included all the believers in the command to obey the Ones in Authority, so how could He possibly have meant this command to apply only to some of them—the commanders of military expeditions—as you have claimed? Would not obedience to the Imam who sends out the military expedition and appoints a commander over it be more fitting and appropriate than obedience to the commander whom he appointed? Indeed, one may only call the Ones in Authority those who actually possess authority, and the commander of the military expedition has only that authority which the Imam delegates to him.

45 The argument for the validity of the Imamate goes beyond the scope of this book, but in this chapter we have merely sought to set forth the doctrine of the People of the Truth concerning the Sunnis’ disputes over what to do when they do not find an explicit statement concerning something in the plain text of the Qurʾan or the Practice of the Messenger. The People of the Truth say, concerning this, “We refer the matter to the Ones in Authority, as God commanded in that regard, and we ask the People of Knowledge about it,” while the Sunnis say, “We deduce it on our own.” We have shown that in adopting this view they contradict the Book of God and the Practice of His Messenger, and we have explained that God perfected His religion and included all things that He imposed as religious obligations on His creatures in His Book. Whoever knows this, knows it, and whoever does not, does not.