Narratives of Administration and Judiciary in the Age of Prophecy in the Book of Al-Sunan Al-Kubra by Al-Bayhaqi (Died.: 458 AH/1065 AD). Historical study

Abstract

     The research aims to shed light on the historical narratives related to the administration and the judiciary and their first emergence in the days of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family). We have made an inventory of these narrations to highlight and compare them with other books of Sunan on the grounds that the narrations mentioned by Al-Bayhaqi are narrations in the Sunnah of the Prophet. And it became clear through the research that the Prophet (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family), that al-Bayhaqi mentioned three administrative aspects only, which are the narration of the book of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family). The Prophet (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family) over some of the cities that were subject to his rule: Abu Sufyan appointed him to Najran, Amr bin Khazm, and Al-Ala’ al-Hadhrami to Bahrain, in addition to appointing some of the Companions over Medina while he was leaving to fight. We do not seek help from whomever asks us in our work. While there are several narrations about the judiciary and its rulings and the issues that the Messenger (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family) issued a fatwa, laying the foundations upon which the judiciary is based, which is the Holy Qur’an, in addition to that it set limits for some cases such as blood money for murder, cutting off the hand of a thief and other disputes.

He warned Muslims of the position of judge because of its importance in revealing and nullifying falsehood, to the extent that he (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family) said: ((The Messenger of God said: “Whoever is afflicted with judgment among Muslims, let him be fair between them in a moment.” By God, whoever makes a judge has slaughtered without a knife.

He also pointed out the merit and reward of the judge with God ((If the judge rules, and he makes ijtihad and is correct, he has two rewards.

It is worth mentioning that Al-Bayhaqi gave ageneral and comprehensive overview of the rulings of the judiciary by presenting the narrators in detail, while he referred to a few narrations with regard to the administrative organizations.