Judgment with Plaintiff’s Oath and One Witness: Sharʿī Basis and Scholarly Opinions

❖ Judgment with One Witness and the Oath of the Plaintiff: Sharʿī Principle and Scholarly Differences ❖

By: Imran Ayub Lahori

Sharʿī Basis

A case may be decided with one male witness plus the oath of the plaintiff.

✿ Evidences from Hadith

① Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما said:
أن رسول الله قضي بيمين و شاهد
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed judgment with an oath and one witness.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1712; Abū Dāwūd: 3608; Ibn Mājah: 2370; Musnad Aḥmad 1/248)

② Jābir رضي الله عنه reported:
أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قضى باليمين مع الشاهد
“The Prophet ﷺ passed judgment with an oath along with one witness.”
(Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2369; Tirmidhī: 1344; Aḥmad: 3/305; al-Bayhaqī: 10/170 – ṣaḥīḥ)

③ ʿAlī رضي الله عنه also ruled in Iraq with an oath and one witness.
(Tirmidhī: 1345; Dāraquṭnī: 4/212 – authentic)

④ Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated:
أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قضى باليمين مع الشاهد
“The Prophet ﷺ ruled with an oath along with one witness.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3610; Tirmidhī: 1343; Ibn Mājah: 238 – authentic)

⑤ Nearly twenty Companions رضي الله عنهم narrated this ruling.
(Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 4/206)

✿ Positions of the Scholars

• Majority (Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Ibn Ḥajar, al-Shawkānī):
  Valid to decide based on one witness + oath.
• Ḥanafīs:
  Not valid. They argue that the Qur’an only mentioned two men, or one man and two women (al-Baqarah: 282) and did not mention oath.

🔹 Refutation:

• Authentic hadith establishes this as an additional proof, not a cancellation of the Qur’an.
• The Qur’anic rule remains, and the Sunnah rule applies in its own scope.
• If Sunnah’s additions were rejected, then rulings like cutting the hand for second theft or prohibition of marrying a woman with her aunt — which are established by Sunnah, not Qur’an — would also be rejected.
  (See Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/379–380)

✿ Scope of Application

• Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī: Limited to financial matters (wealth, contracts, debts, etc.). Not valid in ḥudūd, nikāḥ, ṭalāq, rajʿah, theft, qiṣāṣ, etc. because these have their own specified evidence requirements:
  • Ḥadd of qadhf: four witnesses (al-Nūr: 4).
  • Ṭalāq: two just witnesses (al-Ṭalāq: 2).
  • Loans: two men or one man and two women (al-Baqarah: 282).
• Ibn Ḥazm: Valid in all cases except ḥudūd. He rejected restricting it only to wealth, as there is no clear evidence for that.
  (al-Muḥallā: 8/490–491)
• Nawwāb Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān: Judgment with an oath and one just witness is obligatory.
  (al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/558)

✅ Conclusion (Rājiḥ View):

• The stronger opinion is that of the majority (jumhūr):
  • Judgment may be made based on one witness plus the oath of the plaintiff.
  • This applies only in financial matters, not in ḥudūd, marriage, or prescribed punishments.
• This is supported by authentic ahadith and clarified by Ibn Ḥajar (Fatḥ al-Bārī: 5/615).