For al-suh't, it is everything that is not permissible to earn, and it is from 'sah'ta' if it is uprooted because it is deprived of blessing, as Allah, the Most High, said: "Allah destroys usury." And usury is one of its categories. It has been recited (for al-suh't) with both lightening and heavyening. Al-suh't, with an open 's', is in the form of the source from 'sah'ta'. Al-suh't, with two openings. Al-suh't, with a broken 's'. They used to take bribes for judgments and the permissibility of the forbidden. And from al-Hasan: The judge among the Children of Israel, if someone brought him a bribe, would place it in his sleeve and show it to him, and he would speak about his need, and he would listen to him and not look at his opponent, thus he would eat the bribe and listen to the lies. It has been narrated that a worker came from his work, and his people came to him, and he presented to them al-'aradha. And he began to tell them what happened to him in his work. A Bedouin from the people said: We are as Allah, the Most High, said: "Listeners to lies, eaters of al-suh't." And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Every flesh that grows from al-suh't, the Fire is more deserving of it." It has been narrated by al-Hakim from the narration of Zayd ibn Arqam from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him: I heard the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, say: "Whoever's flesh grows from al-suh't, the Fire is more deserving of him." And it has been narrated by Ibn Adi in the biography of Abdul Wahid ibn Zam'ah and he weakened it, and in the chapter from Ma'mar at al-Tabarani and Ibn Adi in the middle of the hadith, and in it is Yazid ibn Abdul Malik al-Nufali, and he is weak. And from Hudhayfah, it has been narrated by Ishaq ibn Rahuyah from the path of Kurdus who said: "Hudhayfah delivered a sermon in al-Mada'in - and he mentioned the sermon. In it is the hadith, with the wording: 'There is no flesh that grows from al-suh't that enters Paradise.'" And it has been narrated by al-Tabarani in al-Awsat from the narration of Ayoub ibn Suwayd from al-Thawri from Abdul Malik ibn Umair from Rab'i from Hudhayfah with the wording: "No flesh that grows from al-suh't enters Paradise, the Fire is more deserving of it." Abu Hatim said in al-'Ilal: Ayoub ibn Suwayd made a mistake in it. The correct view is that it is suspended. And from Ibn Umar, it has been narrated by al-Tabarani and al-Harithiy in al-Gharib. And Ibn Mardawayh in al-Gharib from the path of Umar ibn Hamzah from him. And its narrators are trustworthy except that Umar did not hear from Ibn Umar. And from Ibn Abbas, it has been narrated by al-Tabarani and al-Bayhaqi from two weak chains. And al-Tirmidhi narrated from the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah in a long hadith at the end of which he said: "O Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah, indeed no flesh that grows from al-suh't grows except that the Fire is more deserving of it," and he said: "Hasan Gharib, we do not know it except from this way." And I asked Muhammad about it and he found it strange. And Abu Ya'la from another chain from Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah, and there is a witness in it from Ibn Hibban from the narration of Abdullah ibn Khaythamah from Abdul Rahman ibn Sabit from Jabir ibn Abdullah: "That the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: O Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah - and he mentioned something similar." And it has been narrated by Ahmad and Ishaq and al-Bazzar and Abu Ya'la and al-Hakim from this way, and al-Hakim narrated from the path of Sa'id ibn Bashir from Qatadah from al-Hasan from Abdul Rahman ibn Samurah. He mentioned something similar to the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah: "That he, blessings and peace be upon him, addressed it to Abdul Rahman." And Sa'id ibn Bashir is weak.

The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was given the choice—when the People of the Book referred to him—between judging between them and not judging. And from 'Ata, al-Nakha'i, and al-Sha'bi: they said that if they referred to the judges of the Muslims, then if they wished, they could judge, and if they wished, they could refrain. It was said that this is abrogated by His saying: (And judge between them by what Allah has revealed). According to Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, if they sought judgment from us, they would be subjected to the ruling of Islam. If one of them committed adultery with a Muslim woman or stole something from a Muslim, the prescribed punishment would be applied to him. As for the people of Hijaz, they do not see the application of the prescribed punishments upon them. They argue that they have made a treaty regarding their polytheism, which is the greatest of the prescribed punishments. They say that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, stoned the two Jews before the revelation of the jizya. They will not harm you at all because they only refer to him seeking the easier and lighter option, such as flogging instead of stoning. If he turns away from them and refuses to judge for them, it becomes difficult for them, and they dislike his turning away from them. They are likely to oppose him and harm him. So Allah secured his path with justice and caution, just as He ruled with stoning. And how do they seek judgment from you, expressing amazement at their referring to one who does not believe in him and in his Book, while the ruling is stated in their Book which they claim to believe in? Then they turn away after that and reject your judgment which aligns with what is in their Book, and they are not pleased with it. And those are not believers in their Book as they claim. Or, those are not complete in faith, in a mocking manner towards them. If you say: What is the grammatical position of 'the judgment of Allah' in this context? I say: It can either be in the accusative case as a description of the Torah, which is a subject with its predicate among them, or it can be in the nominative case as a statement about it, as in: And among them, the Torah speaks of the judgment of Allah. Or it may not have a grammatical position and the sentence is explanatory, because among them is what suffices them from seeking judgment, as you say: You have Zaid advising you and guiding you to what is right, so what do you need from others? If you say: Why did you use the feminine form for the Torah? I say: Because it is akin to 'Mawma' and 'Dawda' and similar terms in the speech of the Arabs. If you say: What is the basis for the conjunction 'then they turn away'? I say: It is connected to 'they seek judgment from you'.