Ahadith Musnada fi Abwab al-Qada li Abi Nuaym al-Asbahani
- Author died
- 430 AH
- Editions
- Ahadith Musnada fi Abwab al-Qada li Abi Nuaym al-Asbahani
Ahadith Musnada fi Abwab al-Qada (Hadiths with Chains of Transmission on the Chapters of Judiciary) is a specialized hadith compilation by the Isfahan-based traditionist Abu Nu'aym al-Asbahani (336–430 AH / 948–1038 CE), gathering prophetic narrations concerning judicial ethics, court procedures, and the administration of justice .
Content and Structure
The work is organized into thematic chapters (abwab), in which Abu Nu'aym transmits hadiths with full chains of transmission (asānīd) through multiple transmission paths and Companions .
The surviving manuscript portion covers several legal and ethical subjects related to judgeship:
- Divine assistance and justice in ruling: Narrations affirming that God supports the judge as long as he does not intentionally commit injustice, including reports transmitted from Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, and Ma'qil ibn Yasar .
- Directives to judges: A chapter on the Prophet's instruction to Ali ibn Abi Talib to keep the judgment of God before his eyes when sent to rule , as well as Ali's narration recounting the Prophet's supplication for him and the command not to rule after hearing only one disputant until hearing the other .
- Bribery and corruption: Chapters condemning both the briber and the recipient of bribes (al-rāshī wa-al-murtashī)—with paths recorded from Abu Hurayra, Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Thawban, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Aisha, and Umm Salama —and reports mentioning the selling of judicial rulings (bay' al-hukm) among severe corruptions of later times .
- Gifts and commerce by rulers: Hadiths forbidding officials and judges from accepting gifts, including the report of Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi regarding Ibn al-Lutbiyya and the narration هدايا الأمراء غلول ("Gifts given to officials are misappropriation") , as well as censure of a ruler conducting trade among his subjects and appointing relatives .
- Adjudicating by outward evidence: The hadith stating that the Prophet judges based on what he hears, warning that an eloquent party who wrongfully obtains his brother's right merely takes a piece of Hellfire .
- Judging while angry: The prohibition against a judge delivering a verdict while angry, related through the letter of Abu Bakrah to his son in Sijistan , followed by a chapter examining instances where a judge rules while agitated and the ruling coincides with the truth, citing the dispute between al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and an Ansari over irrigation water and the revelation of فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ("But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge in what arises between them") .
Transmission and Manuscript Status
The text survives as a manuscript fragment, where it is cited by later scholars such as Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756 AH) in legal discussions concerning judicial governance and official gifts . The available manuscript copy breaks off in the chapter regarding judicial rulings issued during anger .
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