Two men claiming something, one producing two witnesses and the other one man

It is narrated from al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that some people of the tribe of al-Azd had an animal. Another group laid claim to it and brought witnesses that it was their animal, which had gone missing in the time of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz. Those who held the animal also brought witnesses that it had been born in their possession. The matter was brought before their judge, Abd al-Rahman bin Udhaynah. One party would bring witnesses in the morning, and the other would bring more than them in the evening. The judge wrote to Shurayh (may Allah have mercy on him) about the situation, and Shurayh (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote: A greater number of witnesses carries no weight. Those who have brought witnesses that it was born in their possession, and in whose hands the animal is, have the greater right to it, and they are the more entitled where there is doubt.

It is narrated from Ibrahim that two men laid claim to an animal that was in the possession of neither of them. One of them brought two witnesses and the other brought four witnesses. He said: The animal will be between the two of them half and half, because two witnesses make the right binding.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It will be among them according to the shares of the witnesses.

Hisham bin Hubayrah used to judge in favour of whichever of the two parties had more witnesses.

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Ka'b (may Allah have mercy on him): I sold a mule to a man. He stayed as long as Allah willed. Then he came to me, and I recognized the mule with him. The two of us came to Shurayh, and I set off with the animal. One of them brought seven witnesses that it was his animal, that it had neither been sold nor given away, and the other came and brought six witnesses that it was his animal, that it had neither been sold nor given away. Shurayh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I bear witness that one of the two parties is certainly lying. He divided it between them into thirteen shares, giving each one a share according to his witnesses.

Two men came quarrelling over a mule to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). One brought five witnesses that the animal had been born in his possession, and the other brought two witnesses that it had been born in his possession. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) divided it between them into seven shares.