Ali the first judge: the shared child and the pit of the four

The Imam Ahmad said: Yahya narrated to us, from al-A’mach, from Amr ibn Murra, from Abu l-Bakhtari, from Ali, who said: the Messenger of Allah sent me to Yemen while I was young of age. I said: you send me to a people among whom there will be youths, and I have no knowledge of judgment. He said: ’Allah will guide your tongue and establish your heart.’ He said: I never doubted a judgment between two after that. Ibn Majah reported it from the hadith of al-A’mach likewise.

The Imam Ahmad said: Aswad ibn Amir narrated to us: Sharik narrated to us, from Simak, from Hanash, from Ali, who said: the Messenger of Allah sent me to Yemen. I said: O Messenger of Allah, you send me to a people older than I, and I a youth, who does not perceive judgment! He placed his hand upon my chest and said: ’O Allah, establish his tongue and guide his heart. O Ali, when the two disputants sit with you, judge not between the two until you hear from the other as you heard from the first, for when you do that the judgment will become clear to you.’ He said: no judgment became hard for me after that, or: no judgment was obscure to me after that.

Ahmad also and Abu Dawud reported it by routes, from Sharik, and at-Tirmidhi from the hadith of Zayda, both from Simak ibn Harb, from Hanash ibn al-Mu’tamir: it is said ibn Rabi’a, the Kufan Kinani: from Ali, likewise. The Imam Ahmad said:

Sufyan ibn Uyayna narrated to us, from al-Ajlah, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abdallah ibn Abi l-Khalil, from Zayd ibn Arqam, that a group lay with a woman in purity, and Ali said to two: can you ransom a soul for that? They said: no. He turned to the others and said: can you ransom a soul for that? They said: no.

He said: you are perfect partners; I shall cast lots among you: upon whoever the lot falls, I bind him two-thirds of the blood-price and bind the child upon him. That was mentioned to the Prophet and he said: ’I know nothing but what Ali said.’ Ahmad said: Surayj ibn an-Nu’man narrated to us: Hushaym narrated to us: al-Ajlah informed us, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abu l-Khalil, from Zayd ibn Arqam, that Ali was approached, while he was in Yemen, concerning three persons who shared in a child; he cast lots among them, and bound the one whom the lot struck two-thirds of the blood-price and made the child his. Zayd ibn Arqam said: I came to the Prophet and informed him of Ali’s judgment, and he laughed until his molars showed. Abu Dawud reported it, from Musaddad, from Yahya al-Qattan, and an-Nasa’i, from Ali ibn Hujr, from Ali ibn Mushir, both from al-Ajlah ibn Abdallah, from Amir ash-Sha’bi, from Abdallah ibn al-Khalil: an-Nasa’i says in his version Abdallah ibn Abi l-Khalil: from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: I was with the Prophet when a man of the people of Yemen came and said:

three persons came to Ali disputing over a child; they lay with a woman in one purity. He mentioned like what preceded, and said: the Prophet laughed. The two, meaning Abu Dawud and an-Nasa’i, reported it from the hadith of Shu’ba, from Salama ibn Kuhayl, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abu l-Khalil or Ibn al-Khalil, from Ali, his word: so he released them and did not raise them. The Imam Ahmad also reported it, from Abd ar-Razzaq, from Sufyan ath-Thawri, from al-Ajlah, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abd Khayr, from Zayd ibn Arqam, mentioning like what preceded; and Abu Dawud and an-Nasa’i both reported it from Khushaysh ibn Asram, and Ibn Majah from Ishaq ibn Mansur, both from Abd ar-Razzaq, from Sufyan ath-Thawri, from Salih al-Hamdani, from ash-Sha’bi, from Abd Khayr, from Zayd ibn Arqam, likewise.

Our shaykh said in al-Atrash: perhaps this Abd Khayr is Abdallah ibn al-Khalil, but the reporter did not fix his name. I say: upon that the hadith is strengthened, and were it otherwise he would be more generous in following him; but al-Ajlah ibn Abdallah al-Kindi has some criticism, and the Imam Ahmad adopted the drawing of lots in lineages, and it is among his unique hadiths. The Imam Ahmad said: Abu Sa’id narrated to us: Isra’il narrated to us: Simak narrated to us, from Hanash, from Ali, who said: the Messenger of Allah sent me to Yemen, and we came to a people who had built a pit-trap for a lion.

While they were thus pushing one another, a man fell and clung to another, then a man clung to another, until they were in it four, and the lion wounded them. A man was sent for it with a spear and killed it, and they all died of their wounds. The heirs of the first rose against the heirs of the last and drew weapons to fight, and Ali came to them at the forenoon of that and said: do you wish to fight while the Messenger of Allah lives? I shall judge between you a judgment: if you are content, it is the judgment; otherwise hold back from one another until you come to the Prophet and it be he who judges between you, and whoever attacks after that has no right.

Gather from the tribes of those who were present at the pit a fourth of the blood-price, a third of the blood-price, half the blood-price and the full blood-price: for the first a fourth, for those above him perished; the second a third of the blood-price; the third half the blood-price; the fourth the blood-price. They refused to accept, and came to the Prophet while he was at the Station of Ibrahim and related the story to him, and he said: ’I shall judge between you.’ A man of the people said: O Messenger of Allah, Ali has judged between us. They related the story to him, and the Messenger of Allah validated his judgment. The Imam Ahmad also reported it, from Waki’, from Hammad ibn Salama, from Simak ibn Harb, from Hanash, from Ali, who mentions it.