Question:
When a dispute arises regarding transactions between two individuals who were partners, one person claims the other owes him 25,000 rupees.
He doesn’t have evidence. The other person says, “Since you don’t have evidence, if you swear by Allahﷻ that I owe you 20,000 (or whatever amount), I will give it to you.” But the claimant says he doesn’t agree to that; he wants his 25,000 and won’t swear.
What is the Islamic ruling on this?
Answer:
Generally, in matters of transactions, Islamic courts should give judgment based on evidence. This is how it works in the world. If there’s a dispute between us regarding a transaction or property, one claims it’s theirs, the other claims it’s theirs. What should be done?
We cannot ask the person who has possession for evidence. He has it. We ask the one who is making the claim. You claim it’s yours. What evidence do you have? The other person is in possession. So, you need to prove your claim with evidence. If you cannot provide evidence, then what is the Islamic ruling? If the person in possession is asked, they can swear by Allahﷻ that it is theirs, and the case is settled.
In a civil dispute (not criminal) regarding land or money, Islam guides that the one in possession is the owner. If I have something, I am the owner. I don’t need to show evidence. I say it’s mine. My possession is my evidence. The other person makes a claim. The one making the claim must bring proof – documents, witnesses, etc. I
f they can’t bring acceptable proof, and they still claim it’s theirs, what then? The judge would ask the person in possession to swear by Allahﷻ that it is theirs, and the claim would be dismissed. This is based on a hadith in Bukhari (2416, 2417, 2667, 7183). There was a dispute between a Muslim and a Jew over land. The Jew had the land. The Muslim claimed it was his. The Prophetﷺ asked the Muslim for evidence. He had none. The Prophetﷺ then asked the Jew to swear by Allahﷻ. When the Jew was about to swear, the Muslim objected, saying he would swear falsely.
The Prophetﷺ said, “We cannot judge by what we don’t know. If he swears, the judgment goes in his favor because you have no evidence.” Based on this hadith, what is understood? When there’s a dispute between two, if one claims the other owes them 25,000 and the other denies it, the claimant must provide evidence. If they can’t, and the other person says, “I will give you the amount if you swear by Allahﷻ,” the claimant must do so. They cannot say “I don’t agree to swearing.” In matters involving two parties, Islam has a ruling. Both must abide by it. This is not a matter of personal preference. So, you must follow the Islamic ruling. You can’t say you don’t agree.