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The statement of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, may Allah be pleased with him—“Any man who can distinguish the claimant from the defendant will have no difficulty knowing how to judge between them. The claimant is the man who says, ‘It happened,’ and the defendant is the man who says, ‘It did not happen’”—does not apply universally in every case. It holds only when the claimant’s assertion that something happened is unsupported by grounds indicating the truthfulness of his claim. If, however, he has grounds supporting his claim that are stronger than those of the defendant who says that it did not happen, he is cleared against the other party by swearing an oath. For example, if someone has possessed an item for a period sufficient for that possession to have legal effect against the claimant, and asserts that he purchased it, his statement is accepted upon his oath. Yet he is a claimant who says, “It happened,” while the defendant says, “It did not happen.” Likewise, when someone entrusted with a deposit claims to have returned it, his statement is accepted, although he is a claimant who says, “It happened,” while the depositor says, “It did not happen.” There are many such examples.
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What we have said makes it clear that the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “The burden of proof rests upon the claimant, and the oath upon the one who denies,” is general in encompassing all claims involving property, bloodshed, and other matters, but specific to the litigant whose claim lacks grounds indicating the truthfulness of his statement. And Allah knows best.
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This is a general principle over which no scholar disagrees. Whatever disagreements arise among them concerning litigation do not fall outside this principle. Rather, they concern the relative strength or weakness of the grounds indicating the truthfulness of either litigant, according to the conclusion each scholar reaches through independent legal reasoning.
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Disagreements between the parties to a hire contract are like disagreements between the parties to a sale, since hire is a sale falling within