Shurayḥ b. Ḥāris b. Qays Abū Umayya al-Kindī. He was the qāḍī (judge) of Kufa. He served as a judge during the caliphates of ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī. Later, ʿAlī removed him from the position of judge. Afterwards, Muʿāwiya reappointed him as a judge. Subsequently, he became an independent judge. He remained in the office of judge until his death in this year. He received a judge's salary, earning 100 dirhams per month. It is also said that he received 500 dirhams. When going to his judicial duties, he would say: "The oppressor knows the share of the one whose right he has usurped."
It is reported that when he sat in the position of judge, he would recite the following verse:
"O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth and do not follow [your own] desire." (Ṣād 38:26)
Shurayḥ used to say: "The oppressor awaits punishment. The oppressed awaits help."
It is said that he served as a judge for about seventy years. It is also reported that he resigned from the judiciary one year before his death. Allah knows best. He was of Persian descent, originally from Yemen. After the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he came to Medina. He died in Kufa at the age of 108.
Al-Ṭabarānī narrated that Shurayḥ said: "The oppressors will know the rights of those they oppressed. The oppressor awaits punishment, the oppressed awaits help."
Al-Aʿmash said: "Shurayḥ suffered from his foot. He applied honey to his foot and sat in the sun. When his visitors came to him, they asked:
- How are you feeling?
- I am feeling well.
- Wouldn't it be good to show your foot to a physician?
- I did so.
- What did the physician say?
- He said I would recover."
In another narration, it is said that Shurayḥ had a boil on his big toe. When asked, "Wouldn't it be good to show this to a physician?" he replied: "The one who brought forth the boil is the physician himself." Al-Awzāʿī narrated from ʿAbda b. Abī Lubāba that he said: "The fitna (civil strife) of Ibn al-Zubayr lasted nine years. During that time, Shurayḥ neither inquired about it from anyone nor informed anyone about it."
ʿIbn Sawbān narrated that Shurayḥ said: "When the fitna of Ibn al-Zubayr occurred, I did not ask anyone about it. A man said to me:
- If I were in your position, I would not even care to think about when I would die.
I replied to him:
- But what about what is in my qalb (the heart)?"
Shaqīq b. Salama narrated that Shurayḥ said: "I did not ask anyone about the fitna, nor did I inform anyone. I did not wrong any Muslim or any dhimmī (non-Muslim under Muslim protection) even by a dinar or a dirham." Abū Wāʾil said to Shurayḥ:
- If I were in your situation, I would wish for death. Shurayḥ pointed to his own qalb and replied:
- But how will this be at peace?
In another narration, he replied: "But what about what is in my qalb? Two fatwas are presented to me, and one appears more pleasing to me than the other."
When Shurayḥ saw some people playing games, he said to them:
- How is it that I see you playing games?
- We had some free time, so we played.
- Free time should not be spent this way.
Suwayr b. ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnbarī narrated from Sālim Abū ʿAbd Allāh:
"I heard a man come to Shurayḥ and say:
- Where are you?
- I am between you and the wall.
- I am from the people of Syria.
- That is far away.
- I married a woman.
- May you be harmonious and happy, and have children.
- I promised her to buy a house and made it a condition.
- Fulfilling the condition is obligatory.
- Judge between us.
- By saying that fulfilling the condition is obligatory, I have judged between you."
Sufyān said: Shurayḥ was asked: "How did you acquire this knowledge?"
- By interacting with scholars. I would ask them, and they would answer me. They would ask me, and I would answer them."
ʿUthmān b. Abī Shayba narrated from Hubayra that ʿAlī said:
"O people! Your jurists come to me and ask me questions. I also ask them questions."
In the morning, we went to the mosque of Kufa to see ʿAlī. The mosque courtyard was full. The jurists who came to ʿAlī were asked: "What is this? What is that?" He would answer them, and they would answer him. Eventually, the day passed and everyone dispersed. Only Shurayḥ remained kneeling. Whatever he was asked, he answered. Finally, I heard ʿAlī say to him: "O Shurayḥ, get up. You are the best judge among the Iraqis."
Two women, one the grandmother and the other the mother of a child, came to Shurayḥ to litigate. Both wanted custody of the child, each saying: "I have the right to take this child with me." The grandmother said:
"O father of Umayya, we have come to you. You are the one to whom help is sought.
A grandmother and a mother have come to you, both of us willing to sacrifice ourselves for this child.
O woman who is the child's mother! You have become a widow.
The reason I want to take the child from you is that you have married another man.
Give me the child; I will not allow you to take him away.
O judge, that is all I have to say."
The child's mother said:
"O judge, the grandmother has said what she wanted. Listen to me as well, and do not reject me empty-handed.
You console me for losing my son.
But this has placed a burden upon my heart.
When the child fell orphaned into my lap,
I married a man from whom I hoped for good and who would make me forget my husband's absence.
I married a man who would show me affection and provide for me."
Judge Shurayḥ replied:
"The judge has listened to what you have said, and then gave his ruling.
If he is heedless, it is difficult for the judge.
O grandmother, take the child,
And take your son from the one who is afflicted.
If the mother had been patient before this case,
And had not married another man,
She would have obtained what you desired."
Thus, he ruled that the child be given to the grandmother.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated from Ibrāhīm that Judge Shurayḥ ruled against a man based on his confession. The man objected: "O Abū Umayya, you ruled against me without a beyyina (legal proof)!" Shurayḥ replied: "The son of your maternal aunt (i.e., you) informed me thus."
ʿAlī b. al-Jaʿd narrated from Abū Ḥusayn that they asked Judge Shurayḥ about the ruling on the milk of a sheep that eats houseflies. He replied: "Free fodder and pure milk."
Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal narrated from Abū Ḥayyām al-Tamīmī:
"My father told me: When a cat died in Shurayḥ's house, he would have the cat thrown inside the house, not into the street. He did this so that Muslims would not be disturbed by the foul smell of the cat's carcass. The water spouts on the roof of his house were directed inward, not toward the street. He did this so that water would not flow onto passing Muslims and disturb them."
Al-Rayyāshī said: A man said to Shurayḥ:
- Your situation is not good.
- I see that you describe Allah's wisdom to others, but you do not recognize it in yourself."
Al-Ṭabarānī narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ziyād b. Samʿān:
"Judge Shurayḥ wrote to his brother who fled from the plague: Now, you and the place you are in, and the place you left, are all under the observation of One such that when He wishes to seize someone, that person cannot escape Him. The one who flees cannot escape His grasp. The place you left and the days you wronged yourself in have not yet been closed. You and they are on the same display. The time to benefit from the Possessor of Power is near."
Abū Bakr b. Abī Shayba narrated from al-Shaʿbī:
"ʿUmar wrote a letter to Shurayḥ: If a matter comes to you whose ruling is found in the Book of Allah, judge by the Book of Allah. Do not let the hope of ruling by something not found in the Book of Allah prevent you from judging by the Book of Allah. If it is found in the sunnah of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), judge by it. If the ruling of the matter is not found in the Book of Allah or the sunnah of His Messenger, then look to what the people have agreed upon (ijmāʿ), and if there is consensus, judge by it."
In another narration, it is said that ʿUmar wrote in his letter: "Look at the rulings given by the righteous in the matter that comes to you. If there is no such ruling, then if you wish, judge, or if you wish, refrain. In my view, refraining is better. Peace."
Shurayḥ said: "I was walking with ʿAlī in the Kufa market. He stopped by a storyteller and said to him:
- O storyteller! You tell stories, but we are a people new to Islam. Why do you tell stories? I will ask you a question. If you answer, fine. If not, I will punish you!
- O Commander of the Believers, ask whatever you wish.
- What is the firmness and the loss of iman (faith)?
- The firmness of iman is taqwa (God-consciousness). Its loss is greed.
- Then explain this.
It is said that the storyteller was al-Bakkālī." A man said to Shurayḥ:
- You describe blessings in others, but forget those in yourself.
- By Allah, I envy you for the blessings I see in you.
- Allah has neither benefited you with this nor harmed me."
Jarīr narrated from al-Shaʿbī:
"ʿUmar bought a horse from a man. He was to try the horse and then decide whether to buy it. When he took the horse to try it, it died on the way. ʿUmar said to the owner:
- Take your horse. -No.
- Then appoint an arbitrator between us.
- I want Shurayḥ to be the arbitrator.
- Which Shurayḥ?
- Shurayḥ of Iraq.
They both went to Shurayḥ and explained the matter. Shurayḥ said to ʿUmar:
- O Commander of the Believers! Return the horse as you took it, or buy it at the agreed price.
- This is how judging should be. Go to Kufa. I appoint you as the judge of Kufa."
This was the first day ʿUmar met Shurayḥ.
Hishām b. Muḥammad al-Kalbī narrated from a descendant of Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ:
"Shurayḥ had a son who called to dogs, played among them, and wrestled with them. Shurayḥ asked for pen and paper and wrote to his son's tutor:
"He has abandoned prayer because of the dogs. He is busy with them, wants to wrestle with them, and does ugly things with wild dogs. When he comes, scold and admonish him as befits intelligent and cultured people. If you wish to beat him, do so with a whip. After three lashes, restrain yourself.
Know that by punishing him, you will hurt him, but you will also make me suffer the hardest of sighs."
Shurayḥ narrated from ʿUmar that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to ʿĀʾisha: "O ʿĀʾisha, those referred to in the verse, 'Those who have divided their religion and become sects' are the people of innovation. They have followed their desires. They are the misguided of this umma. Every sinner has repentance, but those who follow their desires and innovations have no repentance. I am free from them, and they are free from me!" This is a weak and strange hadith.
Shurayḥ narrated from ʿUmar that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"You will be sifted, until only the worst of people remain. Their covenants will be confused, and their trusts ruined."
A man said:
- What should we do then, O Messenger of God? What will become of us? The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "Do what you see as proper and good, and avoid what you see as ugly and detestable, and say: 'O One, O One! Help us against those who wrong us. Overcome those who transgress against us.'"
Ḥasan b. Sufyān narrated that Shurayḥ said:
"Those present at Badr, including ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, told me that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
'If a young man leaves worldly pleasures and amusements and turns in his youth to the worship of Allah, Allah will grant him the reward of seventy-two ṣiddīqūn (the most truthful). Allah will say to him: "O young man who abandoned your desire for My pleasure and spent your youth, you are among My angels in My presence."'" This is a strange hadith.
Abū Dāwūd narrated, through the Egyptian judge Shurayḥ, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will call the debtor and say to him:
- O son of Adam, why did you neglect the rights of people? Where did you take their wealth? He will say:
- O Lord! I did not corrupt their wealth, but was afflicted by disasters such as drowning or fire.
Allah, exalted and free from imperfection, will say to him:
- Today it is more fitting that I pay your debt.
The good and bad deeds of that debtor will be weighed. If his good deeds outweigh his bad, he will be ordered to enter Paradise." In another narration, the following is added: "Allah places something in the pan of good deeds, so that it outweighs the bad." Allah, exalted and free from imperfection, knows best.
ʿAbd Allāh b. Ghanam al-Ashʿarī
He narrated hadith from a group of the Companions (ṣaḥāba). It is said that he was a Companion. ʿUmar sent him to Syria to teach people religious knowledge. He was among the righteous servants.
Junāda b. Umayya al-Azdī
He participated in the conquest of Egypt. He served as a commander in Muʿāwiya's naval expeditions. He was known for his goodness and courage. He died in Syria when he was nearly eighty years old.