Section: The judge is not required to trace the judgments of those who came before him; because the outward appearance is that they are valid and correct, and that no one is appointed to the judiciary except someone who is from among those qualified for appointment. If he does trace them, he looks into the judge before him: if he was someone qualified for the judiciary, then whatever of his judgments accord with what is correct, or do not contradict the Book, the Sunnah, or the consensus, it is not permissible to overturn. If it contradicts one of these three, and it is a matter concerning a right of Allah Almighty, such as emancipation or divorce, he overturns it; because he has the authority to examine rights belonging to Allah, Exalted is He. If it relates to the right of an individual, he does not overturn it except upon the demand of the one entitled to it; because a judge does not enforce a right for someone who has no jurisdiction over him without their demand. If the party entitled to it demands it, he overturns it.

If the judge before him was not qualified for the judiciary, all of his judgments that contradict what is correct are overturned, regardless of whether they were matters in which ijtihad is permissible or not; because his judgment is not valid, and his judicial ruling is like no judgment at all, due to the absence of the conditions for judiciary in him. There is no overturning of ijtihad by ijtihad in the overturning of his judgments; because the former was not an ijtihad, and he does not overturn what accords with the correct position; due to the lack of benefit in overturning it, as the right has reached the one entitled to it. Abu al-Khattab said: He overturns all of his judgments; those in which he was wrong and those in which he was correct. This is the school of al-Shafi'i; because the existence of his judgment is like its non-existence. I know of no benefit in this, for if the right reached the one entitled to it by way of coercion without a judgment, he would not change that; likewise, if it occurred by a judgment whose existence is like its non-existence. And Allah knows best.

Section: A judge's ruling does not remove a thing from its inherent nature, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars; among them are Malik, al-Awza'i, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, Dawud, and Muhammad bin al-Hasan. Abu Hanifah said: If the judge rules regarding a contract, an annulment, or a divorce, his ruling takes effect both outwardly and inwardly. So, if two men intentionally bear false witness against a man that he has divorced his wife, and the judge accepts them based on their apparent uprightness and separates the spouses, it would be permissible for one of the two witnesses to marry her after the conclusion of her waiting period, even while he knows of his own intentional lying. And if a man claims the marriage of a woman while knowing he is lying and brings two false witnesses, and the judge rules accordingly, she becomes lawful for him through that and becomes his wife. Ibn al-Mundhir said: Abu Hanifah stood alone in this and said: If a woman hires two witnesses...