because writing is a position of trust. It is recommended that he be a scholar of jurisprudence (faqih), so that he may know the contexts of the words upon which rulings depend, distinguish between what is permissible and what is obligatory, and it is fitting that he be of abundant intellect, pious, and upright, so that he may not be swayed by greed. He must be a Muslim, because Allah the Almighty says: {O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you any ruin} [Al Imran: 118]. It is narrated that Abu Musa came to Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, with a Christian scribe. Abu Musa brought some of his writings to Umar, who admired them and said, "Tell your scribe to come and read his writing." He said, "He cannot enter the mosque." He asked, "Why?" He replied, "He is a Christian." Umar rebuked him and said, "Do not trust them when Allah has designated them as treacherous, do not bring them near when Allah has distanced them, and do not honor them when Allah has debased them." This is because Islam is among the conditions of integrity ('adalah), and integrity is a condition. The companions of Al-Shafi'i said: There are two views regarding the requirement of his integrity and his Islam; one is that they are required, for the reasons we mentioned. The second is that they are not required, because what he writes must be inspected by the judge, so treachery therein is prevented. It is recommended that he have good handwriting, for that is more perfect, and that he be a free man to avoid disagreement. If he is a slave, it is permissible because the testimony of a slave is permissible. The partitioner (qasim) should be of the same description we mentioned for the scribe, and he must necessarily be a calculator, for that is his work and through it he partitions, so he is like the handwriting for the scribe and jurisprudence for the judge. It is recommended for the judge to have his scribe sit before him so that he can observe what he writes and engage him directly regarding what he dictates to him. If he sits to the side, it is permissible, because the objective is achieved, as what he writes is presented to the judge, who then verifies it.

Section: If two adversaries present their case to the judge and one of them confesses [a right] to his opponent, and the one to whom the confession is made says to the judge, "Have two witnesses testify for me regarding his confession," he is obligated to do so. This is because the judge does not rule based on his own knowledge; for the confessing party might deny it later, and he would not be able to judge against him based on his [own] knowledge. Even if he were to rule based on his own knowledge, it is possible that he might forget,