al-Nizam al-Qadai fi al-Fiqh al-Islami
- Author died
- 1438 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Bayan
al-Nizam al-Qada'i fi al-Fiqh al-Islami (The Judicial System in Islamic Jurisprudence) is a work on comparative Islamic judicial law written by Muhammad Rafat Uthman, professor of comparative jurisprudence and dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at al-Azhar University . The book presents a legal study examining the structure, procedural rules, qualifications, and evidence laws governing the judiciary across Islamic legal traditions .
Background and Publication
The author composed the treatise as a comparative jurisprudential study (dirasa muqarana) investigating Islamic procedural law and judicial institutions . It was published in Kuwait by Maktabat al-Falah in 1989 and later in Cairo by Dar al-Bayan in 1994 .
Structure and Content
The work opens with an introductory section outlining the nature and historical development of Islamic judicial administration, followed by four core chapters :
- Introduction (al-Muqaddima): Explores the definition, religious legitimacy, and societal necessity of judicial administration . It surveys judicial practices among pre-Islamic Arabs, during the era of the Prophet ﷺ, and under the Rightly Guided Caliphs, highlighting Umar ibn al-Khattab's separation of the judicial and executive authorities . It also examines the appointment and jurisdiction of judges, the emergence of the chief judge (qadi al-qudat) office, judicial salaries, gifts, and the rules of arbitration (tahkim) .
- Chapter One (Shurut al-salahiyya lil-qada'): Discusses the conditions of eligibility required to hold judicial office—such as Islam, adulthood, intellect, justice, and legal competence—alongside the causes and rules governing a judge's dismissal or resignation .
- Chapter Two (al-Da'wa wa-nizam al-fasl fiha): Addresses the legal claim (al-da'wa), its essential pillars, the status of litigants, trials in absentia, legal representation, statutes of limitation, and the procedural administration of oaths and settlement (sulh) .
- Chapter Three (Turuq al-ithbat): Details the evidentiary mechanisms recognized in Islamic jurisprudence, including testimony, confession, circumstantial evidence (qara'in), lots (qur'a), the judge's personal knowledge ('ilm al-qadi), and extrajudicial recovery of rights .
- Chapter Four (Usul fi al-qada'): Focuses on foundational principles of adjudication, including impartiality between litigants, the standard that the burden of proof rests on the claimant and the oath on the denier, prohibitions against judging while angry, rulings based on a judge's revised independent reasoning (ijtihad), and the conditions for appealing or overturning judicial verdicts (naqd al-hukm) .
Method and Sources
The author employs a comparative legal methodology across the major schools of Sunni jurisprudence, contrasting doctrinal views and evaluating their respective proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and historical judicial precedents . Classical texts on judicial administration—such as Umar ibn al-Khattab's letter to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's al-Turuq al-hukmiyya, and standard legal commentaries across the four madhhabs—serve as primary sources for the analysis .
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