such as the report recorded in the two authentic hadith collections from al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays, who said:
“I had a dispute with a man over a well, and we brought our case before the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said: ‘Produce your two witnesses; otherwise, he must swear an oath.’ I said: ‘Then he will swear without a care!’ He replied: ‘Whoever swears a false oath to deprive a Muslim of his property will meet Allah while He is angry with him.’”
In another version, he said: “Produce your evidence that the well is yours; otherwise, he must swear an oath.”
It is also narrated from Wā’il ibn Hujr, who said:
“A man from Hadramawt and a man from Kindah came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The man from Hadramawt said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, this man has seized land that belonged to my father.’ The man from Kindah said: ‘It is my land, in my possession, and I cultivate it. He has no right to it.’
“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked the man from Hadramawt: ‘Do you have any proof?’ He replied: ‘No.’ He said: ‘Then you are entitled to require his oath.’ The man said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, he is wicked. He does not care what he swears to and has no scruples about anything.’ He replied: ‘You are entitled to nothing more from him.’
“When the man turned away, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘If he swears an oath concerning property in order to appropriate it wrongfully, he will surely meet Allah while He turns away from him.’”
Reported by Muslim and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it authentic.
This authentic hadith shows that he required nothing of the defendant beyond an oath, even though the claimant had mentioned his wickedness. He said: “You are entitled to nothing more from him.” Likewise, in the first hadith, al-Ash‘ath’s opponent was a Jew, as stated in the two authentic collections. Nevertheless, he required nothing of him beyond an oath. And in the hadith concerning the oath procedure in homicide cases, when the Ansār said: