1227. Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: “Two men disputed over a riding animal, and neither of them had any evidence. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) therefore ruled that it be divided equally between them.” Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasaʾi—with the latter’s wording—and he said, “Its chain of transmission is sound.” (1)

What is taken from the hadith:
• The isnad is sound.
• Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, Ibn Majah, and al-Bayhaqi also transmitted it through the route of Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah, from Qatadah, from Saʿid ibn Abi Burdah, from his father, from his grandfather Abu Musa.
• Al-Nasaʾi said, “Its isnad is sound.”
• The compiler likewise judged the chain to be sound, and al-Munadhiri endorsed its reliability.

Lessons derived from the hadith:

1. The disputed property (ʿayn) does not escape one of the following situations:
   a. The item is not in the possession of either claimant, and neither party has evidence or any outward presumption in his favour. In that case each must swear that it belongs to him and that the other has no right to it. If they both take the oath, it is divided between them in halves, as stated in the hadith under discussion.
   b. The item is in the possession of one of them and the claimant has no evidence. It then belongs to the possessor once he swears an oath. If, however, each of them produces evidence that it is his, the scholars hold two opinions on the matter: