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Why do many scholars, in the past and present, refuse to take on the profession of a judge despite their eligibility for it, and is there a text or an اثر (narration/tradition) regarding this?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Judgeship is an honorable position and holds great merit if its holder administers justice. Prophets and Companions undertook it. Its rulings vary between obligation, permissibility, and prohibition: it is forbidden for one who is ignorant of its rulings, permissible for one who is proficient in it and others exist, and obligatory for one who is proficient in it and no one else exists. Many scholars have warned against assuming judgeship due to its risks, and some of them refused it despite being subjected to harm. This was for reasons including their view of themselves as unqualified, or the danger of ruling contrary to the truth, or their inability to bear the trials of judgeship. Prophets and the Rightly Guided Caliphs undertook it, so the door of piety is wide for whoever wishes to distance themselves from it.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
29035
Imported
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Source text, unreviewed
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