The Qur’an provides an explicit answer...

The Qur’an provides an explicit answer: فلا وربك لا يؤمنون حتى يحكموك فيما شجر بينهم ثم لا يجدوا في أنفسهم حرجا مما قضيت ويسلموا تسليما But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make YOU (Muhammad) the judge in WHATSOEVER dispute there is between them , and find in themselves no resistance against WHATSOEVER judgement you give, and submit with absolute submission.[^2] This verse is about all believers till the Day of Resurrection.

None can be a true believer unless he makes the Messenger of Allah his judge in absolutely all matters of dispute – no matter the nature – between him and any other Muslim. Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (d.

774 H) further explains: يقسم تعالى بنفسه الكريمة المقدسة : أنه لا يؤمن أحد حتى يُحَكم الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم في جميع الأمور ، فما حكم به فهو الحق الذي يجب الانقياد له باطنا وظاهرا Allah swears by His Holy Self: that none can be a believer until he makes the Messenger, peace be upon him, the judge IN ALL MATTERS, and whatever he (the Prophet) judges is the truth that must be submitted to, inwardly and outwardly.[^3] A key fact in the above verse is that this authority is absolutely limited to the Prophet.

None whatsoever shares it with him. It also remains with him, and exclusive to him, till the Hour. Moreover, the authority binds every single Muslim, whatsoever his rank, status or office. It is a condition of faith. Without it, there is no iman . So, if one must be a believer (and he must), then he must also adopt the Prophet as his judge in every instance of dispute between him and another Muslim.

Many contemporary Muslims would think that making the Messenger of Allah our judge only means adopting his Sunnah to resolve our disputes. Their reasoning would be that his Sunnah has taken his place since he is no longer physically present among us. However, such a thought is nothing but a misconstruction of the noble verse. The Sunnah mostly concerns jurisprudential and judicial matters. Meanwhile, the Prophet’s judicial sovereignty extends into even completely secular, personal matters.

Moreover, each case must be decided on the basis of its special circumstances. Therefore, there are instances where the judge must exercise personal discretion and flexibility in Shari’i issues, and equally in matters of no religious significance – something that is sometimes impossible with the rigid, non-secular Sunnah. A quick look at the circumstance of descent of the noble verse reveals the correctness of our submissions.