In this excerptfromQuḍāt Qurṭuba, Khushanī recounts an anecdote involving al-Naḍar b. Salama al-Kalāʿī (d. 302/914), who served as a judge in Cordoba. While a lawsuit was taking place in the court, a certain Ibn Raḥmūn, known for his love of jesting, kept making jokes and funny remarks, provoking the laughter of those present. Al-Naḍar not only did not stop him but even smiled at Ibn Raḥmūn’s comments. The litigant who was the object of Ibn Raḥmūn’s jokes complained that Ibn Raḥmūn constantly insulted him and his mother. Nevertheless, Ibn Raḥmūn continued to crack jokes in court, and the judge tolerated his behavior. In her chapter in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Maribel Fierro uses this anecdote to demonstrate that funny remarks, jokes, and jesting were acceptable in courts and that judges did not necessarily put a stop to such behavior.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale (ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.