مُنَازَعَةٌ فِي دَيْنٍ أَوْ مِيرَاثٍ فَتَحَاكَمَا إِلَى السُّلْطَانِ أَوْ إِلَى الْقُضَاةِ أَ يَحِلُّ ذَلِكَ قَالَ عليه السلام مَنْ تَحَاكَمَ إِلَيْهِمْ فِي حَقٍّ أَوْ بَاطِلٍ فَإِنَّمَا تَحَاكَمَ إِلَى الْجِبْتِ وَ الطَّاغُوتِ الْمَنْهِیِّ عَنْهُ وَ مَا حَكَمَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا يَأْخُذُ سُحْتاً ١ وَ إِنْ كَانَ حَقُّهُ ثَابِتاً لِأَنَّهُ أَخَذَهُ بِحُكْمِ الطَّاغُوتِ وَ مَنْ أَمَرَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ أَنْ يُكْفَرَ بِهِ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَحاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَ قَدْ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ قُلْتُ فَكَيْفَ يَصْنَعَانِ وَ قَدِ اخْتَلَفَا قَالَ يَنْظُرَانِ إِلَى مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مِمَّنْ قَدْ رَوَى حَدِيثَنَا وَ نَظَرَ فِي حَلَالِنَا وَ حَرَامِنَا وَ عَرَفَ أَحْكَامَنَا فَلْيَرْضَ ٢بِهِ حَكَماً فَإِنِّي قَدْ جَعَلْتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ حَاكِماً فَإِذَا حَكَمَ بِحُكْمٍ وَ لَمْ يَقْبَلْهُ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّمَا بِحُكْمِ اللَّهِ اسْتَخَفَّ وَ عَلَيْنَا رَدَّ وَ الرَّادُّ عَلَيْنَا كَافِرٌ رَادٌّ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَ هُوَ عَلَى حَدٍّ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ بِاللَّهِ فَقُلْتُ فَإِنْ كَانَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا اخْتَارَ رَجُلًا مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا فَرَضِيَا أَنْ يَكُونَا النَّاظِرَيْنِ فِي حَقِّهِمَا فَاخْتَلَفَا فِيمَا حَكَمَا فَإِنَّ الْحَكَمَيْنِ اخْتَلَفَا فِي حَدِيثِكُمْ قَالَ إِنَّ الْحُكْمَ مَا حَكَمَ بِهِ أَعْدَلُهُمَا وَ أَفْقَهُهُمَا وَ أَصْدَقُهُمَا فِي الْحَدِيثِ وَ أَوْرَعُهُمَا وَ لَا يُلْتَفَتُ إِلَى مَا يَحْكُمُ بِهِ الْآخَرُ قُلْتُ فَإِنَّهُمَا عَدْلَانِ مَرْضِيَّانِ عُرِفَا بِذَلِكَ لَا يَفْضُلُ أَحَدُهُمَا صَاحِبَهُ قَالَ يُنْظَرُ الْآنَ إِلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْ رِوَايَتِهِمَا عَنَّا فِي ذَلِكَ الَّذِي حَكَمَا الْمُجْمَعَ عَلَيْهِ بَيْنَ أَصْحَابِكَ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِهِ مِنْ حُكْمِهِمَا وَ يُتْرَكُ الشَّاذُّ الَّذِي لَيْسَ بِمَشْهُورٍ عِنْدَ أَصْحَابِكَ فَإِنَّ الْمُجْمَعَ عَلَيْهِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ فَإِنَّمَا الْأُمُورُ ثَلَاثَةٌ أَمْرٌ بَيِّنٌ رُشْدُهُ فَيُتَّبَعُ وَ أَمْرٌ بَيِّنٌ غَيُّهُ فَيُجْتَنَبُ وَ أَمْرٌ مُشْكِلٌ يُرَدُّ حُكْمُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ وَ إِلَى رَسُولِهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله وَ قَدْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى اللّٰه عليه و آله حَلَالٌ بَيِّنٌ وَ حَرَامٌ بَيِّنٌ وَ شُبُهَاتٌ تَتَرَدَّدُ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ فَمَنْ تَرَكَ الشُّبُهَاتِ نَجَا مِنَ الْمُحَرَّمَاتِ وَ مَنْ أَخَذَ بِالشُّبُهَاتِ ارْتَكَبَ الْمُحَرَّمَاتِ وَ هَلَكَ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُ قُلْتُ فَإِنْ كَانَ الْخَبَرَانِ عَنْكُمَا مَشْهُورَيْنِ قَدْ رَوَاهُمَا الثِّقَاتُ عَنْكُمْ قَالَ يُنْظَرُ مَا وَافَقَ ٣حُكْمُهُ حُكْمَ الْكِتَابِ وَ السُّنَّةِ وَ خَالَفَ الْعَامَّةَ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِهِ وَ يُتْرَكُ مَا خَالَفَ حُكْمُهُ حُكْمَ الْكِتَابِ وَ السُّنَّةِ وَ وَافَقَ الْعَامَّةَ قُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ أَ رَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَانَ الْفَقِيهَانِ عَرَفَا حُكْمَهُ ٤ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَ السُّنَّةِ ثُمَّ وَجَدْنَا أَحَدَ

have a dispute about a debt or an inheritance and take their case to the ruler or the judges of the time — is this permissible? He said: Whoever takes a case to them, whether in a matter of truth or of falsehood, is as one who has taken his case to an idol and a tyrant whom he has been forbidden; and whatever the tyrant rules for him, even if it is his undoubted right, is as though he had taken something unlawful, for he has taken it by the tyrant's ruling, whereas God has commanded that they disbelieve in him. God, exalted, says: "They wish to take their disputes to the tyrant, though they have been commanded to disbelieve in him." I said: What are those two to do, when they are in dispute? He said: Let them look to a man of your own number who relates our hadith, looks into our lawful and unlawful and understands our rulings, and let them be content with his arbitration. For I have made him a judge over you; and if he judges according to our command and one of them does not accept him, then he has made light of God's ruling and has rejected us; and whoever rejects us has rejected God — and this is on the border of associating partners with God. I said: What if each of the two chose one of our companions (of the Shi'a) and was content with his oversight of his own right, and the two differed in their ruling, and the source of their disagreement was the difference in your hadith? He said: The sound ruling is that which is given by the more just, the more learned, the more truthful in hadith and the more God-fearing of the two; and no heed is to be paid to the ruling of the other. I said: What if both are just and approved among the companions and neither has any preference over the other — what should they do? He said: Let attention be given to the one whose ruling rests on a hadith agreed upon among the companions; let that hadith be acted upon, and let the other hadith, which stands alone and is not well known among the companions, be left aside, for in what is agreed upon there is no doubt. Truly matters are of three kinds: 1. a matter whose rightness and guidance is clear, and it must be followed; 2. a matter whose misguidance is clear, and it must be shunned; 3. a matter that is difficult and doubtful, and in finding its reality it must be referred to God and the Messenger. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family, said: There is a clear lawful and a clear unlawful, and between them are doubtful matters; whoever leaves the doubtful matters is saved from the forbidden, and whoever takes the doubtful matters will fall into the forbidden too and perish without knowing. I said: What if both hadiths are well known and trustworthy men among you have related them? He said: Attention must be given: whichever accords with the Qur'an and the Sunna and differs from the Sunnis is to be taken, and that which differs from the Qur'an and the Sunna and accords with the Sunnis is to be left. I said: May I be your ransom, tell me — if both jurists derived the ruling from the Qur'an and the Sunna, but one of