40 Hadiths on Social Justice
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Hadith #13 – Corrupt Lawyers and Unserved Justice
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Modesty/shyness and guilelessness are two branches of iman, while vulgarity and eloquence are two branches of hypocrisy.” [Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2113) and deemed authentic by al-Albâni]
Eloquence is a powerful tool that can be used to inspire and build people up, but it can also be used to deceive and harm. We should be careful not to use our eloquence, power, wealth, or privilege to wrong others.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Corrupt lawyers and unserved justice. This is a way for me to take a halal shot at my one brother who happens to be an attorney. So, we get to talk about lawyers. But, the fact of the matter is that in the context of what we're speaking about today, everyone is a lawyer. Meaning, when you are advocating for something, whether that's a right that you feel that is owed to you, or whether that's in the context of lobbying for some sort of change, or lobbying for some sort of benefit, or in even selling something, so in the context of deception, each one of us acts in the capacity of a lawyer in the prophetic sense. So, I'm going to actually start off with, what did we talk about last week? Deception. The week before? Tawtfeeth, shortchanging. Both of these things require, or you have to be savvy, and you have to be able to get away with certain things. So, when you do tawtfeeth, you've got to be able to cheat properly. You've got to do tawtfeeth in a way, you've got to shortchange others in a smart way, so that they won't know that you're shortchanging them. When you deceive people, some people are better at deception than others. So, what happens when two people argue for the same thing, or two people argue their case, and the one who is wrong does a better job of arguing his case or her case, and takes what's not rightfully theirs? Or what happens when someone is, you know, there's a public dispute, and one person gives off an impression that's incorrect, leading to the bereavement of the other person, or the grief of the other person? There's actually an interesting title. The chapter in Sahih Muslim, there's actually a chapter in Sahih Muslim, which is Baab Al-Hukm Al-Hukmi Bil-Zahir, the judge in accordance with the appearance, Wal-Lahni Bil-Hujja,
and some people who do a better job of putting forth their proof. So again, Baab Al-Hukm Bil-Zahir, the judgment is by what's apparent, meaning whoever is making the judgment is going to inevitably make a judgment based upon what's apparent to them. Wal-Lahni Bil-Hujja, and some people just do a better job of arguing their proofs. So the hadith is narrated by Umm Salama, RadhiAllahu Ta'ala Anha, the wife of the Messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, Innakum Takhtasimoon, that you bring to me your disputes. Innakum Takhtasimoon Ilayya, you bring to me your disputes. And he says, Wala'alla Baabukum An Yakuna Alhana Bil-Hujjatihi, and some of you might be better at arguing your case. So one of you is a better lawyer than the other. So the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, says, Fa'aqdi Lahu Ala Nahwin Mimma Asma'umin. So I judge in his favor or her favor based upon what I am hearing. But the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, says, Faman Qata'tu Lahum Min Haqqi Akhi. So whoever I judge in his favor at the expense of his brother, if I judge on behalf of someone who did a better job of arguing their case, but that led to the wronging of his brother. So the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, says, Fala Ya'khudu, do not take it. Meaning, even if you find yourself in a situation where you argued your case better, and the judge judged in your favor, and you know that you're wrong, you know that you're cheating here, you know that you're getting more than you deserve in this case. The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, says, Do not take it. Fa'innama Aqda'u Lahu Biqita'tan Minan Naar. He said, because if you do that, you are literally taking a portion of the hellfire. All that extra that you take in the judgment, whether it's tangible or not, is a piece of hellfire.
In another narration, let him choose his place in hellfire. Whoever deceives a judge, or deceives, and sometimes a judge is someone who's actually making a judgment in a case. Two sides are presented, and that person is making a judgment. And one person deceives the judge. Sometimes it's the court of public opinion. So one person deceives the public. So the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is saying that just because you find yourself in a favorable situation, with that, do not take that extra, because that will be your portion of hellfire. And there's a very, very powerful, beautiful story. I love this narration because it shows you what the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was able to do with his companions. And it involves the same hadith, or the same narration. Ja'a Rajulani Minal Ansar, Yakhfasimani Ila Rasulillahi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Two men from the Ansar, from the inhabitants of Medina, came to the messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and they were arguing about some old inheritance, meaning there was some land or there were some estates that were left behind, and they had not been resolved for a very long time. So the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, as they brought their disputes before him, neither of them had any solid proof. So he said what he said in the hadith above. The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, repeated to them, Listen, you both bring to me cases. And one of you might be al-han, one of you might do a better job of arguing his side, but don't do it, because that would be your portion of hellfire. So when the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said that to them, they both started to cry, they both started to weep. So now you have a situation where they both said to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, haqqi li akhi. My right is for my brother. You know what, you take it all.
So now they're arguing in front of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, no you take it, no you take it, no you take it all, no you take it all. Because they were so afraid of what the Messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said, and these men had that fear of God. And that shows you, by the way, what he did to that society, what he did to the people around them, that they both felt, like you know what, it's not worth it. This world, or anything from this world, is not going to be worth that type of punishment. So I'd rather not be on that side. I'd rather not do tatfeef, short change, and get a little bit extra. At the end of the day, it is what it is. And how many times, I hate seeing this by the way, it's such pain to the deceased when their beloved ones that are left behind fight over the inheritance and stop talking to them. I see it all the time. It's sickening. It's sickening. Like, you know, there's no consideration for the person that passed away. What they would want from their children. How many times do you see families break apart fighting over the inheritance that's left behind. So the Prophet ﷺ said, listen, one of you might be arguing better, but you're going to take your portion of hellfire. Now they're saying, haqqi li aqeeq, go ahead and take my right, oh my brother. And so the Prophet ﷺ, he said to a third party, he said, listen, he said, go to that land, he said, divide it evenly, doing the best that you can, right, seeking accuracy with the best that you can. And then he said, cast lots to see who will take each piece of land. So you do your best to divide it and then cast lots and then give one to each brother. And the Prophet ﷺ turned to both of them and he said, and each of you should forgive the other for any discrepancy that you see. Problem solved. So they both agreed to that resolution from the Messenger ﷺ. So again, the idea here is that sometimes you might argue your case better and hence justice will be unserved in this world.
But the Prophet ﷺ says justice will be served in the hereafter. So if you're going to cheat somebody in this world, and subhanAllah, think about it, at this time you don't have actual professional lawyers. You are your own lawyer. You are your own lawyer. You don't get to hire somebody. And think about today the way that our system works in this country. If you're rich, then you get a good lawyer. If you're poor, you get assigned a lawyer. And you end up in a really unfavorable situation from the start. The system cheats you to a point that it's sometimes not worth it to even seek justice. Because the person you're seeking justice from has so much power in the system. You know, bribe the judge. You know, has some sort of relationship with the judge. It is all connection based. It's all about influence. It's all about power. And the Prophet ﷺ prohibited that. There's a beautiful story, and there are many stories actually that come from this that we'll go through in the context of this. Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, when he was the Khalifa, so he's the leader of the state, he's head of state. And his shield was stolen in a battle. The shield went missing in the battle of Siffin. So he's walking in Iraq, and he sees that there's a Christian citizen that has a shield. He's the head of state, this is a Christian citizen that has a shield. So Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu ta'ala anhu says, Hey, you've got my shield. And he says, This isn't your shield. Ali is the head of state. Does he really have to even argue with this guy and take him to court or take him to a judge? I'm the head of state, of course it's my shield. Give it back to me, or I'll punish you. It doesn't work that way. Ali radiyallahu anhu says, Well, let's go to a judge. He takes him to Shuraih al-Qadi, a judge by the name of Shuraih. Brilliant, brilliant young man, who was not from the companions of the Messenger alayhi salatu wa salam, but was highly regarded by the companions for his ability to judge fairly.
Shuraih was appointed by Umar, and Umar brought him one time, when he was the Khalifa, Umar brought him the judge, and he judged against Umar. And Umar started patting him on the back and said, That's why I like you. Because he's fair, he tells the truth. He's not swayed by power, he didn't care, he wasn't intimidated by the head of state, he wasn't intimidated by influence. So Ali brings this Christian man and says, Listen, he stole my shield. Shuraih says, What's your proof that it's your shield? He says, All right, listen, I'm going to go bring my servant and my son, Hasan, and they'll both testify that it's my shield. He said, That doesn't work. He said, Why not? He said, Your servant might just be afraid of you, and that's why he'll say it's your shield, even though it's not your shield. And he said, Well, what about Hasan? He said, Well, he's your son, it doesn't count. And Ali said, Subhanallah. He said, How amazing is it? You would reject the testimony of a man that the Prophet, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, guaranteed paradise? The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this young man is one of the chiefs of paradise, and you would reject his testimony? He said to him, Ya Amir al-Mu'minin, O Khalifa, O leader of the believers, he's your son. Conflict of interest. It's biased. So Ali, radi allahu anhu, said, Subhanallah. He laughed, and he said, Shuraih is right. So he told the man to go. And that man, this Christian man who was watching it all, he's just amazed. His eyes are like, What is going on here? Are these people really going to just let me get away with it? So he tells Ali, radi allahu anhu, that this type of behavior could only be inspired and taught by a Prophet of God. He said, Ash hadu la ilaha illa Allah, wa ash hadu anna Muhammadan nasru Allah. He handed Ali, radi allahu anhu, back the shield, and he told him that it fell. I saw it fall out of your bag when you were leaving Sufin.
But I took it there, and he told him that I have never seen this type of justice before. So Ali, radi allahu anhu, gave him the shield as a gift for his Islam, as a gift for him coming into Islam. So congratulating him, he gave him back the shield anyway. But that type of judgment, that Shuraih did not favor the head of state over a non-Muslim citizen, even though he has proof. But he said, No, this proof doesn't add up. That is the justice that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, inspired. And what does he do when Osama bin Zayd comes to him to argue on behalf of a royal? He says, No, it doesn't work that way here. Justice has to be applied to everybody equally. So no one could be mistreated, even if a person has a better lawyer or a person is better able to represent themselves in a situation. Now there are several Hadiths that I'm going to go through actually on this topic, because they relate to different branches. This Hadith, the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he said, Al-hayaa'u wal-ayyiu, al-hayaa'u wal-ayyi, shu'ba tani min al-iman, al-hayaa'u wal-ayyi. Hayaa' is modesty. Al-hayaa'u wal-ayyi. Al-ayyi, you know, it's a really hard word to translate, because it's usually used in a derogatory sense. Hayaa' is modesty and shyness, that a person has shyness of their lord first and foremost. They're too shy to disobey God in private, and that shyness becomes a quality and a characteristic that they have. That modesty, that bashfulness that they have with Allah, they have with the people as well. It becomes a characteristic. The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, said that's from iman. Al-ayyi is usually in a derogatory, is used in a derogatory sense. Al-ayyi means someone who doesn't know how to play with their words. Meaning they speak very bluntly, sometimes a little too bluntly,
and they don't really know how to play with their words. They're very simple in their words. So it would actually usually be used in the Arabic language in a derogatory sense. But here the Prophet, peace be upon him, is praising it. The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, is praising it. Why? Simplicity in language. A person that doesn't play around with their words, that's so blunt that sometimes it's to their disadvantage. You know when you say I'm a bad liar, one of the best gifts from Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, is that you're a bad liar. If you're a bad liar, thank Allah. Seriously, it is a blessing from Allah if you're a bad liar. Because it's better that you get caught in this world, in your lie, and then give up that habit, then you become a good liar and you keep on doing it. So a liar is someone who's actually a bad liar, doesn't really know how to play with words, just tells things how they are, not rudely, but almost to a point that people would think that they're not very intelligent because they're just straight. The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, said, al-hayya wal-'ee, he said, modesty and al-'ee, I don't even know how to translate it. You guys get the word. You understand what I mean. al-hayya wal-'ee are two branches of faith. And he said, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, wal-bada'u wal-bayan, which is vulgarity and eloquence. Vulgarity and eloquence are two branches of hypocrisy. Rawah al-tirmidhi. Vulgarity and eloquence are two branches of hypocrisy. That's an interesting hadith. Because that means if you're eloquent, you're in trouble. You know what? If you are eloquent, you should fear Allah. Because eloquence will cause you to take advantage of people. Eloquence can get you out of many situations. Eloquence is a gift that you can use to deceive. Eloquence is a gift that you can use to lie. Eloquence is actually a branch of hypocrisy.
Is it always a branch of hypocrisy? No. Because the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, is called mubeen. Someone who speaks with bayan, with clarity, with eloquence. Preciseness. But the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, uses his eloquence for good. But when the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, says, inna min al-bayani las-sihr that in eloquence there is sorcery. That with eloquence you can be a sorcerer. You can literally cast spells on people with eloquence. He knows what he's talking about, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. How many eloquent politicians. We don't have one right now in the office, in the White House. He's not eloquent by any measure. I mean, he makes George Bush look like he was mubeen. That he had the gift of bayan. But how many times do you have people that are eloquent liars? Eloquent politicians. Eloquent deceivers. Then you have simplistic presidents that tweet at 3am. And there's no room for disguising their idiocy. So eloquence can be a gift or it can be a curse. And the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, said it could be a branch of hypocrisy. Vulgarity is a branch of hypocrisy. The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam, said, laisa almu'min bi-tta'an wa-l-la'an wa-l-fahishu al-badheer. That the believer is never vulgar. I know that sometimes it becomes the language of a certain craft or the language of a certain art to be vulgar. That doesn't excuse you as a believer. Even if you're speaking for truth, you don't become vulgar. But if you compare, badheer is the opposite or the counterweight to which good characteristic? Hayya or al-eem. It's the opposite of hayya, of shyness and modesty. The believer is always modest. So the opposite of that is to be badheer, is to be someone who's foul or vulgar. The opposite of al-eem, someone who speaks simplistically,
is someone who speaks eloquently. So these things can be used in a very, very dangerous way. And they can lead people to indecency. They can lead people to lying. They can lead people to deception. And a person might be able to argue their side of a story eloquently. And then it ends up being a punishment for them or a piece of hell for them. Why? Because through that, you can continue to deceive. You can get away with things. And when you know that you have that power, you will keep on doing it over and over and over again until eventually you get caught in your lies or you get caught in your deception, which is from the blessings of Allah that usually happen to a person eventually. Another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ, this is narrated from Hakeem ibn Hizam, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhum, where the Prophet ﷺ spoke about this in the context of buying and selling. So this hadith, I debated whether to use it last week or to use it this week. But he said ﷺ that when two people go into a sale, that both the buyer and the seller have the ability, this is in the fiqh of transactions, they have the right to abort the sale until they part. Meaning what? As long as you're together and you're still negotiating, up until that point, until you agree and you write it down, put it on paper or you part, the sale is still in motion. So he said you both have the right to do so. He said if they are truthful with one another and they make things clear, then Allah puts blessing in their sale. Both for the buyer and the seller. If both the buyer and the seller were truthful and they were clear, no pathif, no deception, no shortchanging or deception, Allah will put barakah in it. He said but if they conceal the defects and their sale is based on lies, the Prophet ﷺ, he says that the blessing of their sale is eliminated, taken out. I'm paraphrasing the hadith.
So it goes to the buying and the selling as well that a person might be able to falsely represent a product very well. Or falsely represent something in a transaction very well. How does this work in crime? Because this is often where it happens. People get away with atrocious things due to power or influence or a system that's meant to protect them. Whatever it may be, people get away with horrible things. And some people are punished severely for things that they did not do or things that for the crime does not match the punishment. This is an interesting hadith. I'm actually using it for another paper that I'm writing right now on the Prophet ﷺ and the Jews of Medina. So sort of analyzing all of his interactions with the Jews that lived in Medina. It's fascinating the amount of, or where the Prophet ﷺ went to to establish justice for them. So in this incident, there was a man by the name of Bashir ibn Ubayr. So Bashir ibn Ubayr, he was a Muslim but he was a hypocrite. So he was one of the munafiqeen, he was one of the hypocrites. He stole a shield from another Muslim during the life of the Prophet ﷺ and he hid that shield in a sack of flour. So as he's carrying that flour back to his house, there was a hole that was caused. Imagine that the shield has some sharp edges. It caused a hole in the bag and the flour made a trail to his house. So he found himself in a very difficult situation. So what he did was, he took the shield quickly because he knew that they would come for him. And he threw it into the house of a Jewish man by the name of Zayd, Zayd ibn Samim. Quickly threw it in his house so that he would look like the guilty party. He was like a neighbor to him and he figured he could get away with it. So everyone went following Bashir.
And you know, ibn Ubayr came to the Prophet ﷺ to seek the defense of Bashir because now they're finding it. And Bashir is saying, I didn't do it. And they're saying that it was the Jewish man and they blamed it on him. So the Prophet ﷺ was looking at the situation. And one side you have a Muslim, someone that's known to them. Again, it turned out he was a hypocrite later on. The other side you have a Jewish man and it appears to be that the shield was stolen by the Jewish man. So Allah ﷻ revealed, this is really powerful because Allah revealed it, fi haqqiman, in the right of that Jewish man, that innocent Jewish man in the situation, about the shield that was stolen from that man. And it's actually a portion in Surah An-Nisa. It starts from verse 105 and it goes all the way to 112 where Allah ﷻ in Surah An-Nisa tells the Prophet ﷺ, wa la tujadil ʿanil ladheena yakhtaanoon anfusahum. Inna Allaha la yuhibbu man kana khawwanan athima. The Prophet ﷺ is told, do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Indeed, Allah does not love those who are habitually deceptive and sinful. And finally Allah ﷻ mentions towards the end of this portion, wa man yakthib ithman fa innama yakthibuhu ala nafsi. And whoever commits a sin only earns it against himself. You commit a sin, no one else earns that sin except for you. Wa kana Allaha aliman hakeema. Verily God is all-knowing and all-wise. Wa man yakthib khatia aw ithman thumma yarni bihi bari'a. Powerful language. Allah says, and whoever commits a sin or an offense and then throws it on an innocent person,
with the language yarni, he throws it on to an innocent person, faqad ihtamala buhtanan wa ithman ladheena. Then he will carry in the sight of God a great slander and a huge manifesting. Allah argued on behalf of that man and basically revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, don't listen to that eloquent hypocrite. He managed to get away from a situation. He saw himself in a situation, he figured, well, let me throw this shield quickly there, get myself out of this. And Allah ﷻ revealed on behalf of that Jewish man to the Prophet ﷺ not to be swayed in the favor of Bashir in that situation. So again, the idea is that in this world, sometimes justice will not be served. We believe that justice is always served. Sometimes it's delayed. Inna allaha liyumni lildhalim. Allah ﷻ delays the oppressor, delays the transgressor, until Allah ﷻ seizes him, nam yuflitu, and Allah ﷻ would not let him go. So sometimes justice is served later on. So you can think about all of these different things, all of these different ahadith, where the Prophet ﷺ is speaking about people that falsely advocate for certain things, falsely claim certain things, and in the process that directly leads to the harm of others, sometimes in a court of law, sometimes in a court of public opinion. But our Messenger ﷺ warning that the one who gets away with this in this world, it will be a testimony against him or her on the Day of Judgment. Just because you can abuse, just because you can lie very well, you can cheat, do not become accustomed to it. Instead, it starts off with haya, starts off with that shyness in the sight of God, being too bashful in the sight of God
to try to cheat Him ﷻ, and those who cheat only cheat themselves. Being too bashful in the sight of God to take advantage of gifts that Allah ﷻ gave you. Eloquence is a gift, a major gift, and it can be used for beautiful things. Subhanallah, the tongue can be used for beautiful things, or it can be used for the worst things. It can be used to grow or it can be used to destroy. It can be used to inspire or it can be used to hinder. Subhanallah, it goes back to the tongue and it goes back to the pen, that eloquence is a gift that Allah ﷻ gives to some of His servants. I remember once, and this is a true story, I was sitting with a halaqa, we went over this hadith in Sahih Muslim, this is when we did Sharh Muslim by the Imam al-Nawawi, by Sheikh Amr al-Shishani. And as he was teaching the hadith, there was a brother that was sitting there who's known to not be so eloquent. He's known to just always kind of blur things out and go, oh, and then kind of catch himself. He's not known to be eloquent, he's not known to be super articulate and intelligent. And he was going, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. And the Sheikh told him, why do you keep saying alhamdulillah? He said, because all of you guys get yourselves in trouble. That's part of al-'iid. He said, me on the other hand, I'm too bad at lying, so I don't even try it, right? I don't even try to deceive anybody because I know that I don't have that gift. And all I would earn by that is the punishment and wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So think about this in terms of advocacy. Think about this on a bigger picture. What does this look like in terms of deception, even in the realm of advocacy? People that argue against the deen, super PACs and lobbies, the tobacco lobby, as it was very famous, right? All of this is part of cheating and lying.
The sugar industry maybe, a little bit of that too. Cheating, lying, deceiving, using your position, using money, using interests to push something forward and to harm, directly harm other people in the process. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from that. I'll actually leave you one more story. I have a lot of stories here. One more story. It's actually an incident that happened with Al-Qadi'iyyat. The great judge, great judge Al-Qadi'iyyat. And there were two women that came to him to complain about something and they were both crying. So he's listening to them and he keeps asking them for the case, alright, he's taking these things. And then, you know, he wants to hear from the other side. So the person that's with him says, don't you see these two women crying? Why don't you just go ahead and judge in their favor? He says, Allah says about the brothers of Yusuf, wa ja'u abaahum isha'an yabkoon, that the brothers of Yusuf came to Ya'qub, the brothers of Yusuf came to Jacob crying. Qalu ya abaana inna vahabna until the end of it. So he said crying is not enough. I need to see the facts. Okay, so I feel sympathy, but at the end of the day, I can't make a judgment without properly evaluating and analyzing the situation. And so sometimes it's not eloquent, sometimes it's eliciting sympathy. Alright, that could sway a person in a certain favor which is not the right way. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wa laa yajrimannakum shana'an wa qawmin ala alla ta'dilu Do not let your distrust for people or your personal inclination, do not let your personal inclination or your hatred for people cause you to be unjust to them. One of the beautiful things Imam al-Shawkani rahimahullah said, he said when it comes to judgment, if you are in a place where you have to judge on something, you have to make a decision on something,
he said that if the person being testified against is rich, he should not be favored because of his richness in order to benefit from him or to avoid his harm. So a lot of times, if you're thinking about a judge, a judge will judge in the favor of someone who is rich because at the end of the day, they fund my campaign, they're involved with me, it's all very, very, very dirty. And by the way, here in the South, it's like, it's as dirty as it gets, it's as backwards as it gets. I was dealing with, we were talking to a few people that have witnessed police brutality up front, and they're unwilling to speak or to be on a jury because at the end of the day, they don't want vengeance to hit them, right? These police will patrol my neighborhood and I don't want to end up in a situation where I know that cop and it could come back to haunt me because there are situations where it came back to haunt me. So sometimes a person backs off of saying the truth because there's a person of power, a person of influence, a person of wealth, and so you avoid testifying against them, and that's unjust. And he said, but on the other hand, if you see another person who's poor, he should not be favored because of his poverty out of mercy and compassion for him in a way that you might wrongfully take your compassion out for that person on someone else. What does that mean? Just because the person appearing before me appears to have conditions that will make me feel for them, feel some sort of compassion for them, that compassion for them should not cause me to wrong someone else out of compassion. It's also very significant. I can have sympathy for that person and have compassion for that person before I pass a judgment on another person being acute or something. So I have to be able to hold myself and to be fair when I'm judging with others, and I have to also make sure that I never, ever, knowingly misrepresent a situation
or use my eloquence or use my status or use my wealth or use my position to wrong somebody else, to smother somebody else, because that's what happens. All of that is literally playing with fire, literally playing with fire. The Prophet ﷺ warned against, and we'll have another class about this, shahadat az-zur, false testimony, one of the major sins before that, false testimony. He used to warn about shahadat az-zur, false testimony, until the companions thought he wouldn't stop. He'd keep on saying, iyaakum, beware of false testimony, beware of false testimony, beware of false testimony, until the sahaba thought, the companions thought, he would not stop saying that, alayhi salatu wasalam, but that's for another day. Allah ta'ala a'lam. So I hope you guys, who are lawyers, lawyers and attorneys, those of you who are watching, be careful. And all of us are lawyers in some capacities. We should be careful, and we should be conscious and shy of God when we find ourselves in situations where we can misrepresent and benefit by misrepresenting a situation. And when we find ourselves in a situation where someone else is able to wrong us, we should not allow that. We should not allow that to make us bitter. Rather, we should trust in the justice of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that justice will be served by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah ta'ala. Questions? Yeah. O.J. was not guilty. God knows. Love doesn't fit, right? What do Muslim lawyers do, or what should Muslim lawyers do?
Should they take cases and misrepresent where they know that their party is guilty? Look, you cannot, and that's part of the problem with the system. The system is based upon power and influence. No. Just because the Jordan Edwards case is so fresh right now, I'm intimately involved, just, you know, you think about the officer that was brought in for murder. His bail was set to $300,000. He was going to go in with drug charges, minor drug charges, and his bail was $300,000. That's actually injustice in and of itself. So he got his mug shots to quiet the public, and he was out within an hour. He never spent a minute in a prison cell. So it's all based on influence and power and who you know, and that's the problem. So if just because I'm in a situation where this person is rich and they're hiring me and I can argue their case, I can argue not that if I believe that my party is guilty and I argue that they're not guilty, I am sinful. What I can do is I can argue that they get the least, or I can try to reduce sentences or reduce punishment, try to bargain and plea deal. But where it becomes really problematic is when you actually put in something that you don't believe and you actually lie and argue a case that you don't believe. And that's very sticky, and I know that puts our attorneys in a very difficult situation. But it is what it is. وَاَللَّهَ مَا أَسْطَطَعْتُمْ Fear God as much as you can. At the end of the day, every profession unfortunately has a little bit of dishonesty in it, has some sort of haram in it. Fear God as much as you can. Be aware of Allah as much as you can. So you can try to reduce, you can defend a guilty party, trying to get them to make sure that nothing is excessive against them. You cannot lie and misrepresent something. And can you imagine, subhanAllah, I mean, just think about that, right? There are people that defend murderers and they know that they're murderers, and they have the nerve to stand up in a courtroom because they're getting paid
and to argue that this child who was killed by the murderer of my client was killed by someone else. And they will sway the justice system away from that murderer. I'll just say this, you know, subhanAllah, we look at, and this is, I've been telling people for the last 10 days, don't talk to me because I'm very angry. So just about everything that's happening right now. We are so quick to accuse systems of the past of being backwards, premodern law systems being backwards and cruel and unjust. What is more cruel than this? Seriously, what's more cruel than this, where it's literally all about the powerful avoiding the powerless, there's racism embedded in the system, discrimination, interest, power, lobbying, campaigns. All factors in our entire justice system. People disproportionately targeted, thrown into jail cells. I mean, it's crazy. This is as backwards as it gets. I've studied history. I think our criminal justice system is one of the most cruel and unjust in history. So maybe we're not like the Romans and throwing people out there to get eaten by lions and stuff like that, but we're doing other stuff. So this is, when I think of this hadith in the Prophet's life, people that lie and misrepresent, and they're able to take the right of somebody else in a situation. I just remember, wa la tahsabanna allaha ghafila na'ma ya'mal al-qawmin Don't think that God is unaware of what oppressors do. And may Allah protect the weak and the vulnerable. That's one. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here all the time, by the way. I appreciate you. Thank you. People like you, that give all of us hope. Thank you.
Yes? Can you say that last sentence? Yes. Yeah. That's why, so to your second question first, the question is if you're a judge, and look, you have in front of you one person that's arguing better than the other person. You can't let your personal inclinations get in the way. What do you do? That's why the title of the chapter is Al-Hukm Bi-Dhahir. That you have to judge in accordance with what's apparent to you. At the end of the day, you have to judge in accordance with what's apparent to you. And if it was just a situation of someone was Al-Hukm Bi-Dhahir, better and more eloquent at arguing their case, then that's just their place in the sight of God. But you have to poke holes. As a judge, it's also, you can recognize when one is more eloquent than the other.
You can poke more holes in the eloquent argument than the jargon of the one who's able to argue better. So that's fine. But you cannot let your personal feelings sway you. If that was the case, you imagine, Shuraih Al-Qa'di is sitting, you know, standing in front of the son-in-law of the Prophet, one of the promised paradise, someone who he knows would never lie. Like, do you think for a moment, Shuraih thought that Ali was lying? Absolutely not. There's no way Shuraih thought in his mind that Ali could be lying, or Al-Hassan, grandson of the Messenger of Allah, this beautiful person could be lying. There's no way he thought they could be lying. But at the end of the day, he had to look at the facts. He had to be fair to everything that was being presented to him. So no, you can't let your personal biases sway you. Now, when it comes to what you mentioned, you don't understand how a lawyer could argue on behalf of a criminal and try to bring a sentence down and things of that sort. That is the way that the system functions. There aren't, you know, almost everything is variable. 10 year, 15 year, and at the end of the day, plead guilty, get a plea bargain, try to solve things outside of court, sit in a room, talk it over. None of this is clean. None of it's clean. But what is clean? So I'm not saying that it's a good thing to do, but none of it's clean. What's for sure haram, because all of it's gray is what I'm trying to say, what's for sure haram is to actually lie and misrepresent a case. So for example, when we're talking about al-hukum bil-zahir, to judge things as they are apparent, I might have a very strong feeling, but I have the right to insist on behalf of the person I'm defending that all evidence is put forward. I have that right to insist on that, that we need to scrutinize the evidence and make sure that the evidence is clear.
Now if I'm convinced, and then it's obstruction, I try to bury evidence or try to make sure that certain evidence doesn't see the courtroom, or certain evidence is not presented, or if it's presented, to try to shift, that is lying and deception and evil and haram. So it's a gray area when you talk about trying to bring down sentences and trying to argue on behalf of a client and make things less punitive in a situation. Any sisters? Yeah. So this goes back to, when did we discuss this? Three or four weeks ago? A little bit of detail on this? I think we discussed it in Tawfiq, shortchanging, with a little bit of detail. You know, if you find yourself in that situation where you're getting more than you deserve, then your taqwa has to govern you at that point. Now if a person is not able to get their right Islamically, they are justified in going through the court system. It baffles me when people start to claim righteousness and don't do this and don't do that. When people come to me and they complain about domestic violence, I'm serious, I say this, I'm like, you know what, call the police. And when someone says, astaghfirullah, you called the police, it's embarrassing, and the Muslim community, and they came and they saw the Muslim, they're like, you know what, if that person doesn't fear Allah, they're not going to fear me. They need to fear a cop.
Or fear that system. So to use the weight of the system when you're not properly getting your rights, that's fine. But if you get more than what you deserve, then your taqwa has to govern you at that point. You know what our prison system is? Yeah, it's really a form of slavery, isn't it? The 13th amendment, that's the whole point of the documentary, 13th, right? But it's a form of slavery. Islam prohibited debt slavery. Because that's the way slavery basically was imprisonment for a time. So, I'm not able to pay off a debt, lock them up. Take them as a slave, basically, until they can pay off that debt. There are different forms of slavery that existed in the time of the Prophet, and that basically meant imprisonment. If you think about prisoners today, they're forced to do labor, they are living, functioning as slaves. They do not have any right to their own, they don't have any autonomy at that point. Everything is taken from them. And they're buried away and they don't have proper rights. So in an Islamic concept, is there this concept of imprisonment? Not really, no. There's this concept of withholding the harm of a person from society. So sometimes that could be temporary imprisonment in a way. That exists in some of the books of filth. But the goal of imprisonment is to withhold harm from society for whatever period that needs to be done, but not in a way to punish, to throw someone into a dungeon, or to put someone...
All of that was prohibited by Islam. But it is a great area. Maybe we'll talk about it. Maybe we'll do a halaqat of what's the concept of a prison in Islam, or what does imprisonment look like.
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