and his opponent is with him" (22). This is because doing so makes the opponent suspect the judge's inclination toward the person he hosted. He should not prompt either of them with his argument, nor with anything that could cause harm to his opponent—for instance, if one of them intends to confess, he should not prompt him to deny, or if he intends to swear an oath, he should not prompt him to decline, or if he intends to decline, he should not embolden him to swear. He should not, upon sensing a witness's hesitation, encourage him to testify, or if he is about to testify, restrain him from doing so, or say to one of them alone: "Speak." Such matters are prejudicial to his opponent, because the judge is obligated to be just between them. If it is said: "But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prompted the thief by saying: 'I do not think you stole' (23), and Umar said to Ziyad: 'I hope that Allah does not disgrace a man from the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at your hands' (24)." We say: This requirement does not apply here, for this was regarding the rights of Allah and His prescribed punishments (hudud), where there is no opponent for the one confessing, nor for the one against whom testimony is given. Thus, prompting him does not constitute an injustice against one of the two litigants, nor a departure from justice on either side, whereas what we said applies to the two litigants (25) who are disputing over a right belonging to humans. He should not be harsh (26) with the witness, nor interrupt his speech, nor be violent with his words.

Section: If many litigants (27) appear before the judge, the first to arrive shall be given priority. It is appropriate that he should have someone write down who arrived first to prioritize them. Ibn al-Mundhir said: "The best way is to take a stretched cord, one end of which is near the judge's seat and the other end near the litigants' seating area. Whoever arrives, he writes his name on a slip, pierces it, and inserts it onto the cord from the side near the litigants' seating area, until he reaches the last of them. When the judge sits, he extends his hand to the end near him and takes the slip closest to him, then the next one similarly, until [the slips are finished] (28). If any remain and the time for judgment ends, he notes the end near him when he sits, so that in the next session he retrieves the slips just as he did the previous day." Consideration is given to the precedence of the plaintiff, because the right belongs to him. Whenever he prioritizes a man because of his precedence (29),