كان رسول الله ﷺ يُعيّن القضاة، فعيّن عليًّا قاضيًا على اليمن، وأوصاه في كيفية القضاء فقال: «إذا تقاضى إليك رجلان فلا تقضِ للأول حتى تسمع كلام الآخر». وعيّن ﷺ أيضًا عبد الله بن نوفل قاضيًا على المدينة.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to appoint the judges; he appointed ‘Ali as judge over Yemen and he gave him instructions about how to judge by saying, “If two disputing persons came to you do not judge for either of them until you have heard what the other had to say.” He (saw) also appointed ‘Abdullah ibn Nawfal as judge over Madinah.

غير أن القضاة لم يكونوا على نمط واحد، وكانت مجالات ولايتهم تختلف بحسب الأدوار التي أُسندت إليهم. فكان بعض القضاة معنيين بالخصومات التي تقع بين الناس، وبعضهم بدفع ما يضر بالمصلحة العامة للناس، وآخرون بالنزاعات التي تقع بين الناس ومن كانوا يتولون عليهم من أولي الأمر.

However, all the judges were not of one type, and the areas over which they had jurisdiction varied according to the roles they were allocated. Some judges were concerned with the disputes between the people, others with settling whatever harms the common interest of the people and others dealt with the area of disputes between the people and those who were in authority over them.