Jury duty and Islam

[Sincere]

Salaama Aleikum

 

I recently had an interesting conversation at the “water cooler†with a co- worker. He had received summons in the mail for jury duty, and being the character that he is, he was looking for ways to avoid serving on the jury panel. He had been served 3 times in the last 5 years, and made it on at least 1 panel, that lasted 6 weeks….he was fed up of the process. In a joking manner I said, claim you’re a convert to Islam and it’s against your religion. He laughed and said that any exemption based on religious convictions is automatically excused only if you’re asked to serve on a recognized religious holiday. Other than that it’s up to the judge’s discretion to strike you out. My reason opened a can of worms, and he wanted to know why my faith would make me exempt from serving on a jury.

 

Unfortunately my knowledge of diin is limited (insha Allah this will change) and I could only think of 2 things, and I did not have any corroborating verses or hadith’s to quote for him. I gave him these 2 points which I most likely took out of context.

 

1. Its not for me to judge my peers but for Allah SWT

2. As a muslim I’m governed by Islamic sharia law, and not by a court of law.

 

My question is, are there any suraha’s or verses that can shed light or address this issue.

[Nur]

Discrete1

 

Releigious Holiday may not be the ONLY legitimate excuse. Please read From The Web

 

LAST CHANCE FOR EXCUSE - JURY SELECTION

 

Once the initial jury assembly is complete, the remaining group ("panel") is eligible for the jury selection process. You will be asked to line up in a specific order. You will be taken as a group to the courtroom and guided to a specific seat. A seating chart has been created so everyone in the courtroom will know who you are.

 

The judge will then offer a greeting and general instructions on what is about to happen. The judge's instructions may take 30-45 minutes. Following the judge's initial welcome and instructions, questioning of jurors will begin. You may hear this process called "Voir Dire" (pronounced 'voy dare'.) Voir Dire means "to speak the truth."

 

You will be sworn to tell the truth and answer questions in open court. The questions are designed to reveal any conflicts of interest you may have in judging a specific case. For instance, if the case is about bank fraud, the court wants to make sure you're not a banker who is too biased to judge the case fairly. Expect questions about your employment, friendships and family relationships. You may also be asked if you have friends/family members in law enforcement. You will be asked standard questions about your belief in the jury system and if you can judge the case fairly. Questions may be asked by attorneys or from a list of prepared questions presented to you by the judge.

You will likely be asked at this time if you have any scheduling or personal conflicts that will prevent you from serving as a juror.

 

Regardless of whether the question is asked, at this time you must make it clear that you have a conflict with jury service. Be prepared to state why you can serve (work, family, philosophical difference.) If you are passionate enough you will shouldn't be asked to serve (though you won't immediately know the court's decision.) The court only wants to select jurors how want to serve. If you make it clear that you do not want to serve, chances are you will not be asked.

 

During questioning you will be asked if you believe in the jury system and if you can judge the case fairly. Answering with a simple "no" is a sure way to get dismissed . However, you should tell the truth... you are under oath at this time. Expect the judge to ask you why you feel as you do.

 

Following questioning, the group of potential jurors will be excused for a break. During the break the judge will decide which jurors will be excused "for cause" (meaning they have a legitimate conflict in fairly hearing the case, Like Praying in the Courtroom in the middle of the trial ) Attorneys will also reject potential jurors using a limited number of "peremptory challenges." Peremptory challenges can be used against you for any reason. They are mostly used to eliminate jurors that either the defense of prosecution thinks will be too detrimental to their side.

 

Once the final list of jurors is determined, you will be asked to return to the courtroom. The names of the chosen will be called by the judge. The people who were not selected as a juror or an alternate will be excused for the day (though they'll have to continue calling in each day for the remainder of the phone-in period.)

 

 

ONE MORE "LAST CHANCE" TO BE EXCUSED

 

If for some reason the improbable has happened and you've been seated against your will, there is still "one more last chance." Send a note to the judge requesting a meeting. After the first break in proceedings, the judge will see you the courtroom with both the defense and prosecution there to watch. You can then restate your objection to serving and ask to be excused.

 

 

OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENTS TO "THROW" THE PROCESS

 

Once your friends find out that you've been summonsed for jury duty, they will tell you their favorite "get out of jury duty excuses." These generally are humorous or advocate that you make some kind of outrageous statement to the court. Of course you can always pretend to be an e-diot , a bigot or a radical . However, this is unnecessary. As you can see from the techniques above, the court leaves plenty of opportunities for you to honestly get out of jury duty.(From The Web).

 

 

The Islamic Excuse.

 

The Islamic religious reason to exempt yourself from the Jury duty is:

 

Legal Judgement on matters of Money, Life and Dignity is governed by the Sharia Law in Islam, as A Muslim, I can not judge others on any other law, doing it will constitute as major sin at the least, thus I should be excused due to my religious beliefs.

 

Wallahu Aclam

 

Nur

[Sincere]

Nur thank for the response,u missed my point but still kinda answered my question..I fully understand the selection and elimination process of the courts....

 

I was looking for an actual Hadith or Verse that explains this or gives an example ..if any

 

I'll clean this up, instead of assuming you will read between the lines..

 

JURY - A body of persons sworn to judge and give a verdict on a given matter, especially a body of persons summoned by law and sworn to hear and hand down a verdict upon a case presented in court.

 

A hadith or verse, that states the koran is the ultimate law, and is to be used to settle any grieviences...be it murder, theft..etc ...(

[Rahima]

Hmm interesting!

 

JZK folks!

[Sincere]

Many thanks to the people who provided me with the surah's and hadiths mentioned below. This definaely enlightned and educated me further. As for my co-worker he is even more curious about islam than before, and he seems to be barraging me with new question every other day.

................................................

 

And the judgement is His, and to Him you shall return" (28:88)

 

"Verily, Allah commands you to deliver the trust committed to you to their due owner and that when you judge between people, to judge with justice." (4:58)

 

*The term trust here means rights of Allah including all of His commands, and the rights of humans that are committed to man)

 

"Do you not see those who allege to believe in what is revealed to you and what was revealed before you? They desire to seek judgement from Taghut, although they are commanded to disbelieve in it, and Satan desires to lead them far astray." (4:60)

 

* Taghut is any deity, worshipped, or obeyed besides or aside from Allah.

 

"He who disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has surely grasped a strong handle" (2:256)

 

The opposite is infered from here.

 

"And he who does not rule by what Allah has revealed it is they who are unbelievers" (5:44)

 

*there are two other verses(5:45 and 5:47) following this verse, which say he who doesnt rule by the shariah is hypocrite and a wrongdoer.

 

"Do they seek the judgement of jahiliyyah (ignorance)? And who is better than Allah as a judge for a people who have firm faith?" (5:50)