662 – Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘If the two parties to a sale differ and neither of them has any proof, the word is accepted from the owner of the goods, or they may both annul the transaction.’” It was narrated by the Five, and al-Ḥākim declared it authentic (1).

Hadith grading:
This report is weak, but its various chains strengthen one another. It was transmitted by Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, al-Dāraquṭnī, and al-Bayhaqī; Ibn al-Sakan and al-Ḥākim judged it sound. Al-Shāfiʿī related it with a gap between ʿAwn ibn ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿūd and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Masʿūd, yet a connected chain exists: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā related it from al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, from his grandfather, as a marfūʿ report. Al-Albānī said, “The hadith is sound when all of its chains are combined.”

Vocabulary:
• bayyinah (proof): that which makes the truth plain and manifest—such as a document, witnesses, and the like.
• rabb al-silʿah (owner of the goods): i.e. the seller.
• silʿah (merchandise): goods or commodities traded; plural silaʿ.
• yatatarakān (they may both abandon it): the seller and the buyer agree to rescind the sale.