Bulugh al-Maram

Takhrij:
«أخرجه أبوداود، القضاء، باب القضاء باليمين والشاهد، حديث:3610، والترمذي، الأحكام، حديث:1343، وابن حبان.»©Explanation:
The ruling of adjudicating with one oath and one witness applies in the case where the claimant has only one witness; in such a situation, the oath is accepted in place of the second witness.

This is the opinion of Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i, Ahmad, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh rahimahumullah, and the majority of scholars, and they state that in financial matters, one witness and one oath are permissible; however, in non-financial matters, the presence of two witnesses is necessary and obligatory.

According to Imam Abu Hanifah rahimahullah, whether the matter is financial or non-financial, in both cases, the presence of two witnesses is necessary and obligatory, but in this issue, there are nearly thirty hadiths that serve as evidence against his view.

The verse of Allah Most High from which he has derived his argument is: ﴿ وَأَشْهِدُوا ذَوَيْ عَدْلٍ مِّنكُمْ ﴾ (At-Talaq 65:2) and ﴿ وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمْ ... الخ ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:282), but their argument from these verses is not complete, especially since they do not even accept the implied meaning (mafhum al-mukhalafah).

Allamah Ibn Qayyim rahimahullah has discussed this topic in detail, which is worth reviewing.

See: (I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in: 1/32, 38)