Reports on the qasamah

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: Qasamah (the collective oath) existed in the pre-Islamic era, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) upheld it in the case of a man of the Ansar who was found slain in a well belonging to the Jews. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began with the Jews and required of them a qasamah of fifty. The Jews said: We will not swear. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Ansar: "Will you swear?" The Ansar refused to swear. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made the Jews pay his blood money, because he had been killed among them.

Ma'mar said that al-Zuhri stated: Umar bin Abd al-Aziz called me and asked me about the legal ruling on qasamah (the collective oath). He said: It has become clear to me that I should reject it, because a Bedouin testifies, and a man who was absent comes and testifies. I said: O Commander of the Believers, you cannot reject it, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Rightly Guided Caliphs after him ruled by it.

Sulayman bin Yasar said that Umar bin Abd al-Aziz stated: I have never seen a law like qasamah (the collective oath), by which I should take retaliation. Allah, Lord of Honour, says: And let two upright men among you bear witness [Al-Talaq: 2]. And the Tribes said: We bear witness only to what we know, and we could not guard against the unseen [Yusuf: 81]. And Allah, Lord of Honour, said: Except those who bear witness to the truth, and they know [Al-Zukhruf: 86].

Sulayman bin Yasar said: Qasamah (the collective oath) is true; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled by it. While the people of the Ansar were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), one of them suddenly went out. Then they all left the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and found their companion drenched in his blood. They returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "The Jews have struck us down." They named a man among the Jews, though they had no evidence. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: "Let two witnesses other than yourselves testify, and I shall hand him over to you completely." They had no evidence. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Establish your right through fifty oaths, and I shall hand him over to you completely." They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we dislike swearing about what we did not see." Then the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to take oaths from fifty of the Jews. The Ansar said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the Jews do not care about swearing. Whenever we accept this from them, they will come upon the last of us." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) paid his blood money from his own funds.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Huwayyisah bin Mas'ud, Muhayyisah bin Mas'ud, and Abdullah and Abd al-Rahman, the sons of so-and-so, these four set out to obtain provisions at Khaybar. Abdullah was attacked and killed. The narrator said: This was mentioned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You will swear fifty oaths, and you will then be entitled." They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), how can we swear when we were not present?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then the Jews will clear themselves of you," meaning that the Jews will swear. They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in that case the Jews will kill us." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) paid his blood money from his own funds.

Ibn Yasar also reported the like of this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), except that he said: Abd al-Rahman, the brother of the slain man, went to speak, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Call the eldest, call the eldest." So their eldest spoke. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You will swear fifty oaths and be entitled, or they will swear fifty oaths for you." The narrator said: They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), how can we accept the oaths of a people who are disbelievers?" So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) paid his blood money from his own funds.

Al-Qasim bin Abd al-Rahman said: Two men from Kufah set out for Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). They found that he had left the House (of Allah) and was heading for Mina. They circumambulated the House, then caught up with him and told him their story. They said: "O Commander of the Believers, a cousin of ours has been killed, and we all have an equal claim in his blood." He remained silent, giving them no reply at all, until they adjured him by Allah. Then he charged at them. Then they reminded him of Allah, and he held back from them. Then Umar said: "Woe to us if we are not reminded of Allah, and woe to us if we do not remember Allah. Are there among you two upright witnesses whom you can bring against the one who killed him, so that we may grant you retaliation against him? Otherwise, those who ward off your claim shall swear by Allah: We did not kill and we do not know a killer. If they refuse, fifty of you shall swear, and then the blood money will be yours."

Sufyan said that Abu Ishaq stated: A slain man was found in the quarter of the tribe of Banu Salul. His guardians came, cleared Banu Salul, and brought a claim against the people of another quarter. They brought Banu Salul to Shurayh, and he asked them for evidence against the defendants.

Mughirah said that Ibrahim stated: When a slain man is found in a quarter, an oath shall be taken from fifty of its people, among them the defendants. If they are fewer than fifty, the oaths shall be returned to them again, the first and then the next.

Abu Ishaq said that al-Harith bin al-Azma' stated: A man was found dead in Yemen, between the tribes of Wadi'ah and Arhab. The governor of Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to him about it, and Umar wrote back to him: Measure the distance between the two tribes; whichever of them this slain man is nearer to, seize them. The narrator said: They measured and found the slain man nearer to the tribe of Wadi'ah. The narrator said: So the governor seized our tribesmen, made us responsible for payment and made us swear. We said: "O Commander of the Believers, will you make us swear and also make us pay the fine?" He said: "Yes." The narrator said: So fifty men among us swore by Allah: We did not kill, nor do we know the killer.

Ibn Abi Layla said that al-Sha'bi stated: A man was found dead in Yemen between two quarters, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Look to see which of the two quarters this slain man is nearer to, then have fifty men among them swear by Allah, saying: We did not kill, nor do we know the killer. Then the blood money shall be due from them.

Ma'mar said: Imam al-Zuhri was asked about a slain man who was found in a man's house. The owner of the house said: He came to me at night to steal my property, so I killed him. The family of the slain man said: This man himself called him to his house and killed him. Al-Zuhri said: If fifty of the slain man's family swear that the owner of the house called him and killed him, I shall take retaliation from him. If they refuse to swear, these people shall be liable for the blood money.

Imam al-Zuhri said: Sayyiduna Ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) gave a ruling concerning a slain man of Banu Baqirah whose guardians refused to swear, and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) made him liable for the blood money.

Yunus said that al-Hasan al-Basri stated, concerning a person killed by treachery: Fifty men among the defendants shall swear fifty oaths in this form: We did not kill, nor do we know the killer. If they swear, they are cleared. If they refuse to swear, fifty of the claimants shall swear: Our blood was shed on your part. Then the blood money shall be paid.

Hisham said that his father Urwah stated, concerning qasamah (the collective oath): It has been continually practised both in the pre-Islamic era and in Islam.

Bushayr bin Yasar said that a man of the Ansar named Sayyiduna Sahl bin Abi Hathmah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A group of his people went to Khaybar and dispersed there. Then they found one of their companions dead. They said to those near whom they had found him: "You have killed our companion." They said: "We did not kill him, nor do we know the killer." They then came to the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Prophet of Allah, we went to Khaybar and there we found one of our companions dead." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Call the eldest, call the eldest." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: "Bring evidence against the one who killed." They said: "We have no witnesses." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then the Jews will swear for you." They said: "We will not accept the oaths of the Jews." The Prophet of Allah disliked that his blood should go to waste, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) paid his blood money, one hundred camels from the camels of charity (sadaqah).