Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-04
LAND OF THEM0RN|NC
~
What the RsA Kadi of the
Orient is Like.
SAGACITY AND JUSTICE
-
MEN WHO NEVER JUDGE WHEN
THEY ARE UNHAPPY.
Decisions Ruled Only by the Koran and
knowledge of Mans Weakness
and Power.
SAGACITY AND JUSTICE


Written for The Evening Star by Ludwig H. sonden
To one who knows the real oriental kadi.
the Judge of the true land of the morning
1t is amusing to hear an unjust occidental
Judge called "kadf' in derision, and as
term to describe his low moral standard.
In truth, we western peoples who are lost
in the complexities of legislation and prece-
dent. extending backward for ages, have
much to learn from the simple and clear
logic of the oriental kadi.
do not refer to the kadi who holds court
In European Turkey, or even in the western
of law have begun to make their way from
civilized Europe.
Western culture has touched these kadis
and their education has made them largely
European, because many of them have
studied in German. Austrian and French
colleges. They may be oriental still in form
and habits, but they are not permeated
with orientalism as are the kadis for the
true east. where life still is much like the
life described by the story tellers of the
Arabian nights
Presumably the general occidental idea
that the kadi Is corrupt and cruel Judge
springs directly from the stories in those
same Arabian Nights. The generality of
people do not stop to realize although it is
plain enough that the oriental story teller
Is satirist, and that he portrayed not the
typical kadi. but the exceptional one.
In the lands in the east Of Palestine and
farther east of them and in Arabia sit the
kadfs OF whom l have knowledge and who
typify the kadI OF the orient OF course,
there are corrupt and wicked and cruel and
ignorant men among them as there are in
any class or profession in all parts of the
Worid. But, as whole, the kadis are re-
markable men with wisdom as great TODAY
as 1t was in the days when there began
the tales OF the wise and deep judgments of
the oriental judges
The story Of the Jar Of Olives has its
duplicate today in real life in many sino,iar
instances Of simple clear sightedness and
OF Verdicts that are delivered according
10 no iron formula of written laws hut
according to the dictates of common sense.
hh naId by thoroughs knowledge of the
Ever Serene and Placid Judges.
Among these kadis~are~men who never
nave travelled from their little villages and
towns hidden away on the edges of deserts.
and living still in the day Of the caravan
among them are men who have been kadts
Tor forty years. and who sit, ever Serene
and placid listening to intermtaable stories
Oh petty village disputes, with no sign OF
These judges are in love with their nro
1esslon; power and prosperity do not weigh
with them against their ardor in the study
OF man; they are not impatient at the
pettiness or case, because to them no act
OF humanity Is petty. It is the man whom
they Judge and not his trivial acts.
L nave seen these men sit in judgment,
Day AFTER day they are as calm and self
contained as the sands that stretch away
from their gates -A9f..i
The secret of IT is that they have no
doubts. No tangle of previous decisions or
conhict1ng statutes or constitutionaIity or
policy confronts them. Every judgment
goes back to the fountain head-the Koran
1t answers all their questions. It is the
compass that guides the ship of law In the
true orient
These kadis do not venture to sit In tudg-
m eea, II they are III or perplexed by private
aIialrs OF unhappy because of misfortune
OF themselves or friends They will not
even sit In judgment If they are hungry or
thirsty. They will not Judge If they are in
haste to be gone.
ten by really experienced and keen tray
eler. In which he told about the calmness
with which an oriental kadi adjourned his
court because he wished to take some re-
ILeshment and smoke his pipe 1 suppose
That this story, which was entirely correct
as to facts, impressed those who read it
with the autocracy and barbaric simplicity
OF justice in Arabia, where the traveller wit
But, as matter of fact. that occurrence
was typical proof Of the conscientious
ness OF the oriental kadi. For what says
the he. Koran for his direct guidance?
Ihou shalt not judge, oh. Judge, has
thou pain within thy body, dost thou feel
thy spirit troubled for thy SON, dost thou
sorrow for thy friend Thou shalt not
judge. oh, Judge, feelest thou hunger or
dost thou thirst. until thou hast reached
spring to refresh thee! Thou shalt not Judge,
fho,, ;,,f u hat HoI
hath not willed it to let thee judgen'
What" said an old kadi to me when I
praised certain German judge. and. in
proof of 1T. told how he had sat awake all
twelve hours to hear 1t in court. what!
DO you mean to tell me. o Giaur, that he
dared to sit in judgment when he was
weary and fatigued so that his soul and
OF the Evening Lands. to whom the sweet
est duty of man means wretchedness! For
surely no man can do justice unless he is
world!
And are you never unhappy" I asked,
when you face complex case that puz-
zles your
Nay" said he. I'VE are never unhappy
when We judge. If we be unhappy. we do
not judge"
Men Who Are Never Unhappy.
And so they sit, white bearded undis-
turbed, patient while fifty witnesses swear
before them concerning a missing camel
bride or the right to get water at well.
And when all the evidence is in they judge
as carefully and ,conscientiously as if the
fate of the Moslem world depended on their
verdict.
These men are truly at rest. They have
made the good fights forsthey can become
kadis only after they have made 1T. They
nave no ambitions save to fulfill the words
of the Koran. They smile at the strife
that plays before them, and maintain their
own souls In quietness.1 =
Therefore the kadi is not merely judge
In cases of law. He is Ithe wise man Of
the district. Men come to him with their
quarrels and disputes and embarrassments
TO be judged, even when the cases are not
at all within legal jurisdiction.
In Arabia and the eastern Asiatic Turkey
a man cannot become kadi by accident of
birth and station or byafavor of politics or
other influence. He must choose the pro-
fession and train himself to 1t from early
youth. yjI41c
When the oriental boyl.is twelve years
old he must enter the Medrese, theologi-
cal government school, If he wishes to
enter either the theological or legal pro-
fession. There he learns the Koran by
heart. 1t Is expounded for him infinitely,
passage by passage He is known as a