The Qadi Madhaalim

The judge of madhaalim is a judge appointed to lift every madhlama (unjust act) perpetrated by the State against any person, whether this person were a citizen of the State or a person living under its authority, and whether this madhlama were perpetrated by the Khaleefah or those working under him be they rulers or civil servants.
This is the definition of the judge of madhaalim and the origin of the judiciary of madhaalim is derived from reports attributed to the Messenger of Allah (saw) when he described the unjust acts perpetrated by the ruler while ruling over the subjects as being a madhlama. Anas reported: "Prices soared during the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw) so they said to him: O Messenger of Allah why don’t you introduce pricing? He said: Verily Allah is the Recipient, the Extender of wealth, the Provider, and the Pricer, and I hope that I will meet Allah (swt) without having anyone accusing me of having perpetrated a madhlama against him be it in blood or in money." He (saw) therefore judged the pricing as being a madhlama, for if he had done it, i.e. introduced pricing, he would have acted without authority.

The madhaalim (unjust acts) were mentioned in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw) where he said: "If I took money from someone, here is my money, let him take from it, and if I whipped the back of someone, here is my back, let him retaliate." This indicates that complaints against the ruler, or the wali or the civil servant should be submitted to the judge of madhaalim, and the Judge of madhaalim would convey the Shari‘ah rule by way of compulsion.

He (saw) also made the issues that affect the common rights which the State organizes for the people as part of the madhaalim, such as the irrigation of farming lands by common water in turn; the Messenger of Allah (saw) looked into the dispute over irrigation that took place between al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and a man of the Ansar; he (saw) witnessed it personally and said to Al-Zubayr: "You irrigate first O Zubayr and then the Ansari." Therefore, any madhlama that occurs on any person, whether perpetrated by the ruler, or occurring as a result of the State’s organization or orders, would be considered as a madhlama, as gathered from the two ahadith. The matter would be then referred to the Khaleefah to deal with it or to whoever the Khaleefah appoints as judge of madhaalim to deal with such matters in lieu of him.

The Mandatory powers of the Judge of Madhaalim
Accounting the Rulers:

The judge of madhaalim has the mandatory powers to remove any ruler or civil servant, and he also has the right to remove the Khaleefah. The judge of madhaalim has the right to remove the rulers, for the ruler is appointed by a contract, known as the appointment contract (bay‘ah al-in‘iqad). It is important to understand that the court of madhaalim does not act on behalf of the Khaleefah, but is an independent court that is there to remove any madhlama implemented by the State on any of its citizens. So if a madhlama occurred in the wilayah of a certain governor, the court has the right to remove that madhlama it may have to remove that governor from office, even if the Khaleefah does not agree with the judgment.

As for its powers to remove the Khaleefah, this would also be a judgment. aimed at removing a madhlama, for if a situation arose that necessitated his removal, or a situation as a result of which he should be removed, then his stay in office would be a madhlama, and it is the court of madhaalim that judges the removal of a madhlama, so it orders his removal. Therefore, the judgment. of the court of madhaalim to remove the Khaleefah would be a judgment. aimed at removing a madhlama. This is a principle mechanism that Islam has defined for regulating and accounting the ruler.

The court of madhaalim has the powers to look into any madhlama, whether the madhlama were perpetrated by government employees, or related to the contradiction of the Shari‘ah by the Khaleefah, or the various Shari‘ah rules adopted by the Khaleefah, or related to the imposing of a tax or any other matter. This is so because the Messenger of Allah (saw) refused to fix the prices when the Sahabah requested him to do so after the prices had soared, and he (saw) considered price fixing as being a madhlama. This proves if the action of the ruler contradicted or violated the Shari‘ah rules, it would be considered a madhlama. The Messenger of Allah (saw) was a ruler over the Muslims and their head of state.

Furthermore, every action that is part of the government business, performed by any member of the government, if this action was in contradiction of what is lawful, or if it violated the Shari‘ah rules, it would be considered a madhlama, for that person would be a deputy to the Khaleefah, acting on his behalf according to the task assigned to him within the ruling system. Therefore, the hadith about the pricing indicates that the offence committed by the Khaleefah is a madhlama.

To look into a text from the constitution or the canon, would be to look into the order of the authorities, since the constitution and the canon represent the basic laws and since the laws represent the order of the Khaleefah, this is also included in the hadith about the pricing, for it would be like looking into the Khaleefah’s actions; and besides, Allah (swt) says,

"If you dispute about something refer it to Allah and the Messenger." [EMQ 4:59]
i.e. if you disputed with the people in authority about a matter, and this dispute was about an article in the constitution or an article of the law, then it would be a dispute between the subjects and those in authority about a rule of Shari‘ah, then it must be referred to Allah and His Messenger, which means in this case to refer it to the court of madhaalim, i.e. to the judgment. of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw).

As for the mandatory powers given to the judge of madhaalim to look into the imposing of a tax, this is derived from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw) where he said, "If I took money from anyone, here is my money, let him take from it." And he (saw) also said: "And I hope to meet Allah Azza wa Jall without having anyone claiming a madhlama against me, whether in blood or money." If the Khaleefah took money from the subjects unlawfully, it would be a madhlama, therefore the court of madhaalim has the right to investigate tax affairs for it is money taken from the subjects. Its investigation of tax collections would be with the aim of ruling whether those taxes are lawfully imposed by Shari‘ah on the Muslims, such as the money taken to feed the needy, which would not be a madhlama; or with the aim of ruling whether those taxes are not imposed by the Shari‘ah, such as the monies taken to build a dam that is not considered to be essential which would therefore be a madhlama and would have to be removed. This is why the court of justice has the power to look into the taxes.

In the judiciary of madhaalim, the court sitting is optional, and the summons of the defendant is not necessary, nor is the presence of a plaintiff; the court of madhaalim has the right to look into a madhlama even if nobody filed a claim.

This is so because the evidence that confirms the need for a judiciary court to look into a case does not apply for the court of madhaalim for it is not always necessary to have a plaintiff. The court of madhaalim looks into the madhlama even if nobody filed a claim, and because it is not always necessary to summon the defendant, for it concentrates on the madhlama; therefore the necessity of a judiciary court, which is deduced from the ahadith of the Messenger of Allah (saw): "The two disputing parties sit before the judge." and: "If the two disputing parties sat before you.", does not apply to the court of madhaalim. Therefore, the court of madhaalim reserves the right to look into the madhlama as it occurs without any restrictions such as time, place or court sitting.