Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

It is prohibited to work as a judge in system which do not base themselves on Shair`ah law or does not take the laws of Allah as the main and absolute reference in jurisdiction.

This is based on a number of evidences including Quran 5:44: “And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers.”

Furthermore in Quran 5:44, Allah says what means, “And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution. But whoever gives [up his right as] charity, it is an expiation for him. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the wrongdoers.”

According to the decrees of the tenth conference of AMJA (Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America), “There is no harm in women taking part in juries. As for her being a judge, the default would be for her to avoid it since, in general, it does not rule according to what Allah revealed and, furthermore, the majority of the scholars are of the view that women should not be judges.”

The view of Amja focused on women but it based its view on the fact that ruling by non-Muslim laws is absolutely prohibited.

Some scholars maintain that working as a judge in those systems is permissible since the basic spirit of any law is to establish justice, which is a clear Qur’anic imperative, but this is not a legal evidence.

Those systems which do not refer to Islamic law are in complete contradiction to Shari`ah. They permit committing adultery and drinking wine in addition to taking usury and so many things which fall within the category of what Allah has explicitly mentioned, “And do not say about what your tongues assert of untruth, “This is lawful and this is unlawful,” to invent falsehood about Allah. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.”  Quran 16:116.

Therefore, a Muslim is prohibited to work as a judge at systems which take secular laws as the base of their jurisdiction. He is permitted to work as an arbitrator, a member of jury and as a judge in some fields such as administrative law which is not mostly in contradiction to the divine law of Allah.

 Almighty Allah knows best.