Stand Up for Your Master

Saʿd was brought in, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, Qūmū ilā sayyidikum, "Stand up for your master." Now, we know that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has discouraged the ummah from standing up for its leaders. However, this is an exception. Here the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them to stand up for Saʿd ibn Muʿādh — and, by the way, the virtues of Saʿd are set out at the end of this chapter. Saʿd was a special Ṣaḥābī.

So they stand up in two lines to greet him while he's coming in, and then they told Saʿd to give his ruling. Saʿd ibn Muʿādh (may Allah be pleased with him) looked toward the Jews and said, "Do you accept my ruling?" They said, "Yes, we do." Then he points towards the direction of the Muslims, and he said, "Do you accept my ruling?" without staring at them, because he doesn't want to look at the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He was so shy and embarrassed to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), "Do you accept my ruling?" He was saying, as it were, "Who am I to rule in the presence of the Messenger of Allah?" But since it was the Messenger of Allah who told him to do so, he agreed; otherwise he wouldn't have done so. So, towards the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he doesn't look towards him, and he said, "And do you accept my ruling?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Yes, we do."