The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was given a choice: if he wished, he could judge between them, and if he wished, he could turn away from them. He thus referred them back to their own laws, then [the verse] was revealed: "And judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their desires." So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was commanded to judge between them by what is in our Book.

It was narrated from 'Ikrimah, al-Hasan, al-Suddi, Zayd ibn Aslam, and 'Ata' al-Khurasani that they said: It is abrogated; it was abrogated by [the verse]: "And judge between them by what Allah has revealed."

[6389] Hajjaj ibn Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah narrated to us, Warqa' narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid regarding His saying: "So if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them." The Jews: If a married man among them committed adultery, he was lowly [in status], so they stoned him, but if a noble man among them committed adultery, they would blacken his face, then parade him around, then seek a verdict from Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) so that he would issue a ruling for them. He issued a ruling to them for stoning, so they denied it. He commanded them to call their rabbis and monks, then he adjured them by Allah, "Do you find it in the Torah—the stoning?" They concealed it, except for a man among their juniors who felt ashamed and said, "They lied to you, O Messenger of Allah; it is in the Torah."

[The Second Aspect]

[6390] Abu Sa'id al-Ashaj narrated to us, Waki' narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Dumayrah, from Ibrahim and al-Sha'bi regarding His saying: "So if they come to you, judge between them or turn away from them," [he] said: If he wished, he could judge, and if he wished, he could not judge, and if he judged, he judged by what is in the Book of Allah.

His saying, the Almighty: "And if you judge, judge between them with justice."

[The First Aspect]

[6391] Ahmad ibn Mansur al-Ramadi narrated to us, 'Ubayd Allah ibn Musa narrated to us, 'Ali ibn Salih narrated to us, from Simak ibn Harb, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas, who said: The Qurayzah and the Nadir [tribes]—and the Nadir were more noble than the Qurayzah—said: If a man from Qurayzah killed a man from Nadir, he was killed for him [in retaliation], but if a man from Nadir killed a man from Qurayzah, he was ransomed with one hundred wasq of dates. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was sent, a man from Nadir killed a man from Qurayzah, so they said: "Hand him over to us so we may kill him." They said: "Between us and you is the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." So they came to him, and there was revealed: "And if you judge, judge between them with justice." Justice is the soul for the soul. Then [the verse] was revealed: "Do they then seek the judgment of the time of ignorance?"