Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 7170
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ يَحْيَى، عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ كَثِيرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ، مَوْلَى أَبِي قَتَادَةَ أَنَّ أَبَا قَتَادَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ " مَنْ لَهُ بَيِّنَةٌ عَلَى قَتِيلٍ قَتَلَهُ، فَلَهُ سَلَبُهُ ". فَقُمْتُ لأَلْتَمِسَ بَيِّنَةً عَلَى قَتِيلٍ، فَلَمْ أَرَ أَحَدًا يَشْهَدُ لِي، فَجَلَسْتُ، ثُمَّ بَدَا لِي فَذَكَرْتُ أَمْرَهُ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ جُلَسَائِهِ سِلاَحُ هَذَا الْقَتِيلِ الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ عِنْدِي. قَالَ فَأَرْضِهِ مِنْهُ. فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ كَلاَّ لاَ يُعْطِهِ أُصَيْبِغَ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ وَيَدَعَ أَسَدًا مِنْ أُسْدِ اللَّهِ يُقَاتِلُ عَنِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ. قَالَ فَأَمَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَدَّاهُ إِلَىَّ فَاشْتَرَيْتُ مِنْهُ خِرَافًا فَكَانَ أَوَّلَ مَالٍ تَأَثَّلْتُهُ. قَالَ لِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ عَنِ اللَّيْثِ فَقَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَدَّاهُ إِلَىَّ. وَقَالَ أَهْلُ الْحِجَازِ الْحَاكِمُ لاَ يَقْضِي بِعِلْمِهِ، شَهِدَ بِذَلِكَ فِي وِلاَيَتِهِ أَوْ قَبْلَهَا. وَلَوْ أَقَرَّ خَصْمٌ عِنْدَهُ لآخَرَ بِحَقٍّ فِي مَجْلِسِ الْقَضَاءِ، فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَقْضِي عَلَيْهِ فِي قَوْلِ بَعْضِهِمْ، حَتَّى يَدْعُوَ بِشَاهِدَيْنِ فَيُحْضِرَهُمَا إِقْرَارَهُ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ الْعِرَاقِ مَا سَمِعَ أَوْ رَآهُ فِي مَجْلِسِ الْقَضَاءِ قَضَى بِهِ، وَمَا كَانَ فِي غَيْرِهِ لَمْ يَقْضِ إِلاَّ بِشَاهِدَيْنِ. وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ بَلْ يَقْضِي بِهِ، لأَنَّهُ مُؤْتَمَنٌ، وَإِنَّمَا يُرَادُ مِنَ الشَّهَادَةِ مَعْرِفَةُ الْحَقِّ، فَعِلْمُهُ أَكْثَرُ مِنَ الشَّهَادَةِ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ يَقْضِي بِعِلْمِهِ فِي الأَمْوَالِ، وَلاَ يَقْضِي فِي غَيْرِهَا. وَقَالَ الْقَاسِمُ لاَ يَنْبَغِي لِلْحَاكِمِ أَنْ يُمْضِيَ قَضَاءً بِعِلْمِهِ دُونَ عِلْمِ غَيْرِهِ، مَعَ أَنَّ عِلْمَهُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ شَهَادَةِ غَيْرِهِ، وَلَكِنَّ فِيهِ تَعَرُّضًا لِتُهَمَةِ نَفْسِهِ عِنْدَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، وَإِيقَاعًا لَهُمْ فِي الظُّنُونِ، وَقَدْ كَرِهَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم الظَّنَّ فَقَالَ " إِنَّمَا هَذِهِ صَفِيَّةُ ".
Abū Qatāda said: On the day of Ḥunayn, the Messenger of God said, “Whoever has evidence that he killed a man has the right to that man’s spoils.” I stood up to seek evidence concerning a man I had killed, but I saw no one who could testify for me, so I sat down. Then I thought of something and brought the matter to the Messenger of God. One of the men sitting with him said, “The weapon of the man he is describing is with me.” He said, “Satisfy him with it.” Abū Bakr said, “No! Would you give it to a weakling from Quraysh and leave a lion among the lions of God, fighting for God and His Messenger?” The Messenger of God then ordered that it be handed over to me. I bought sheep with it, and that was the first wealth I accumulated.
ʿAbd Allāh reported from al-Layth: The Prophet stood up and handed it over to me.
The people of the Ḥijāz said: A judge does not rule on the basis of his own knowledge, whether he witnessed something during his term of office or before it. According to some of them, if a litigant admits in court that another person has a right against him, the judge does not rule against him until he calls two witnesses to hear the admission. Some people of Iraq said: Whatever the judge hears or sees in court, he may rule on; what occurs outside court, he may rule on only with two witnesses. Others among them said: Rather, he may rule on it, because he is entrusted with the task, and the purpose of testimony is to know the truth—his own knowledge is greater than testimony from others. Some said that he may rule on the basis of his own knowledge in matters of property, but not in other matters.
Al-Qāsim said: A judge should not enforce a ruling on the basis of his own knowledge without other people’s knowledge, even though his knowledge is greater than another person’s testimony. That would expose him to suspicion among the Muslims and cause them to entertain doubts. The Prophet disliked suspicion and said, “This is Ṣafiyya.”
Translation notes
The report joins Abū Qatāda’s account at Ḥunayn to a compiler’s discussion of whether judges may rule on personal knowledge. The jurists’ positions are kept separately attributed. “Satisfy him with it” follows the source’s wording about the weapon; the added narration says the Prophet handed it to Abū Qatāda, who then bought sheep with it. The phrase “a weakling from Quraysh” renders Abū Bakr’s belittling diminutive, contrasted with “a lion among the lions of God.”