Sūrah Ṣād Ṣād
سورة ص
Al-Qurṭubī extracts from Ṣād the fiqh of multiple wives (Dāwūd's ninety-nine wives, 38:23), the legal principle of judicial access equality regardless of wealth or status (derived from Dāwūd's case), and the ruling on the sajdat al-tilāwah at 38:24 contested among the four schools on whether it is a sajdah verse.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Al-Qurṭubī
Al-Qurṭubī opens Ṣād with the dispute (38:21–26) the two litigants who climb over Dāwūd's prayer enclosure and extracts the fiqh of judicial equality: Dāwūd was rebuked for not hearing the case immediately and properly, establishing that a judge must be accessible to all litigants regardless of the judge's personal state (in worship, busy, etc.). He derives the legal requirement of judicial access equality: the judge may not prioritise wealthy or powerful litigants over the poor in case hearing order. The two litigants climbing the enclosure wall illustrates that justice must sometimes interrupt routine.
On the ninety-nine ewes parable (38:23), al-Qurṭubī notes the exegetical debate about whether the two litigants were actual disputing humans or angels in human form testing Dāwūd. He derives the fiqh principle regardless: the parable teaches that one who has much must not use his position to take from one who has little. Al-Qurṭubī connects this to the Islamic prohibition of exploiting a position of economic superiority to force an unequal contract the stronger party must not use his power to override the weaker party's legitimate claim.
- Judicial access equality: Dāwūd's rebuke for delay establishes the obligation of equal judicial access the judge must hear all litigants without prioritising the powerful or wealthy.
- Economic exploitation prohibition: The 99-vs-1 parable is derived as a prohibition of using economic dominance to force unequal contracts Islamic contract law requires genuine free consent, not capitulation to power.
- 38:24 school split documented: Al-Qurṭubī gives the clearest documentation of the three-vs-one school split on 38:24 as a sajdah verse one of the most explicitly contested individual sajdah rulings.
- Mālikī grammatical reading: Al-Qurṭubī's alignment with the Mālikī position that "rākiʿan" ≠ "sājidan" demonstrates his use of grammatical precision in fiqh derivation the text says bowing, not prostrating.
- Power disparity as ẓulm: Al-Qurṭubī derives from the parable that the mere combination of economic dominance + demand for the weaker party's sole possession constitutes ẓulm even if the demand is framed as purchase or negotiation.