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Is Making the Prophet Muhammad (as) a Judge, Making the Ahadith a Judge?
“But no! By your Lord! But no! They will not truly believe until they make you judge يُحَكِّمُوكَ for the matters over which they dispute among themselves and accept your judgement without discomfort and a full trust..” (an-Nisa [4] 65).
Traditionalist scholars claim that the judgement in this verse should be with Bukhari and Muslims, that is, with the narrations (hadith) attributed to Muhammad (as). However, when we look at the integrity of the Quran, it is easily seen that this is not true.
According to the Quran, only Allah is the judge in religion. His decrees are also in the Quran. As it is claimed, the Messenger had to make the judgement not with his own knowledge or narrations etc., but he had to do it with the Quran. The judgement that the Messenger of Allah put forward with the Quran is already the judgement of Allah. Because the decree of the messenger is the decree of the one who sent him. In any case, the messenger cannot make any reduction or addition to the message entrusted to him. Therefore, the messenger had to act as a judge only with the Quran.
Finally, let’s look at the basis of these statements in the Quran:
“And should I seek for a judge other than Allah while He is the One Who has sent down to you the Quran in detail / truth-falsehood separated.” (al-Anam [6] 114).
“Surely, We have sent down the Book to you with the truth so you may judge between the people as We have shown you…” (an-Nisa [4] 105).
“And judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their desires…” (al-Maide [5] 49).
“It is up to Allah to decide on anything in which you differ…” (Ash-Shura [42] 10).