SECTION OF CASES · 26 – A PERSON SWORN ACCORDING TO HIS KNOWLEDGE OF AN EVENT HE DID NOT WITNESS
It is narrated from As's ibn Kays (may Allah be pleased with him) that:
Two men, one from Kinda and the other from Hadramevt, disputed before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) regarding a piece of land in Yemen. The man from Hadramevt said: "O Messenger of Allah, the father of this man seized my land by force. It is currently in his possession."
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) then asked him, “Do you have any proof?” He replied: "No, O Messenger of Allah. But make him swear an oath that he knows that the land in his hand belongs to me and that his father wrongfully took it from me by swearing an oath to Allah." The man from Kinda prepared to swear an oath, and the narrator continued relating the rest of the hadith.
Alkamah ibn Wail ibn Hucr, of the Banu Hadram, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from his father:
Two men came to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, one from Hadramawt and one from Kindah. The man from Hadramawt said, "O Messenger of Allah, a piece of land that belonged to my father has been seized unjustly from me by this man." And the man from Kindah said, “That land is mine; I still possess it and cultivate it. He has no right in it whatsoever.”
Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said to the man from Hadramawt, "Do you have any proof?" He replied, "No, I have no proof." The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then said to the man from Kindah, “You must swear an oath.”
The man from Hadramawt said, "O Messenger of Allah, this man is immoral. Swearing an oath means nothing to him; he does not refrain from anything."
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then said to the man from Kindah, “You are entitled to claim what you desire beyond this.”