The Department of Muftis (Jurists) Besides the judiciary in which Qazis used to decide the cases, there was a special department of Muftis whose duty was to solve various problems of Muslims in the light of the ”Holy Qur’an” and the ”Sunnah” of the Holy Prophet. Following were the Muftis in Medina: Hazrat Umar, Ali, Usman, Abdur Rahman bin Auf, Mu’adh bin Jabal, Ubaiy bin Ka’b, and Zaid bin Thabit. No other person besides them was entitled to give verdict or to lay down rules of Islamic Law to Muslims in the light of the ”Holy Qur’an” and the Sunnah. Judiciary The Judiciary was totally separate from the executive. The Judges appointed by Hazrat Abu Bakr (Rad.A) were Hazrat Umar (Rad.A) and Hazrat Ali (Rad.A) in Medina. Being a great Jurist Hazrat Abu Bakr (Rad.A) was also a Judge and gave decisions on various cases. Punishments He used to give punishments as prescribed in the Holy Qur’an or told by the Holy Prophet. He did not establish any police force or any department for it. However, he appointed Hazrat ’Abdullah bin Mas’ud as the Sentinel to take care of crimes. He also laid down such punishments which were given in the ”Holy Qur’an” or ”Sunnah”. For example he fixed punishment of forty lashes for drinking liquor. He also paid special attention to the safety of highways and various parts of the state. He gave severe punishments to robbers and persons committing breach of peace.
