The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said on the day of Hunayn, "Whoever has proof that he killed a slain enemy may take his spoils." So I stood up to seek a witness for the man I had killed, but I found no one to testify for me, so I sat down. Then it occurred to me to mention the matter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.A man sitting with him said, "The weapons of this slain man he mentions are with me. Satisfy him with regard to them."Abu Bakr said, "No indeed. He shall not give them to a little fox of Quraysh and leave aside a lion among the lions of Allah who fights on behalf of Allah and His Messenger."So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the order, and the man handed them over to me. I bought a small piece of land with them, and that was the first wealth I ever acquired.Abdullah told me, on the authority of Layth, that the Prophet ﷺ stood and handed it over to me.The people of Hijaz said that a judge does not pass judgment based on his own knowledge, whether he witnessed the matter during his term of office or before it. Even if a litigant in the courtroom acknowledged a right belonging to another, some of them held that the judge cannot rule against him until he summons two witnesses to be present at the acknowledgment.Some of the people of Iraq said that whatever a judge hears or sees in the courtroom, he may rule by it, but what occurs elsewhere he cannot rule on except with two witnesses.Others among them said, rather, he may rule by his knowledge in either case, since he is trusted, and the purpose of testimony is only to establish the truth, and his own knowledge is greater than testimony.Some of them said he may rule by his knowledge in matters of property but not in other matters.Qasim said, "It is not proper for a judge to carry out a ruling based on his own knowledge alone, without the knowledge of others, even though his knowledge is greater than the testimony of others, because in doing so he exposes himself to suspicion among the Muslims and causes them to fall into conjecture. The Prophet ﷺ disliked suspicion, for he said, 'This is only Safiyyah.'"
حدثنا قتيبة حدثنا الليث بن سعد عن يحيى عن عمر بن كثير عن أبي محمد مولى أبي قتادة أن
قال رسول الله ﷺ يوم حنين من له بينة على قتيل قتله فله سلبه فقمت لألتمس بينة على قتيلي فلم أر أحدا يشهد لي فجلست ثم بدا لي فذكرت أمره إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقال رجل من جلسائه سلاح هذا القتيل الذي يذكر عندي قال فأرضه منه فقال أبو بكر كلا لا يعطه أصيبغ من قريش ويدع أسدا من أسد الله يقاتل عن الله ورسوله قال فأمر رسول الله ﷺ فأداه إلي فاشتريت منه خرافا فكان أول مال تأثلته قال لي عبد الله عن الليث فقام النبي ﷺ فأداه إلي وقال أهل الحجاز الحاكم لا يقضي بعلمه شهد بذلك في ولايته أو قبلها ولو أقر خصم عنده لآخر بحق في مجلس القضاء فإنه لا يقضي عليه في قول بعضهم حتى يدعو بشاهدين فيحضرهما إقراره وقال بعض أهل العراق ما سمع أو رآه في مجلس القضاء قضى به وما كان في غيره لم يقض إلا بشاهدين وقال آخرون منهم بل يقضي به لأنه مؤتمن وإنما يراد من الشهادة معرفة الحق فعلمه أكثر من الشهادة وقال بعضهم يقضي بعلمه في الأموال ولا يقضي في غيرها وقال القاسم لا ينبغي للحاكم أن يمضي قضاء بعلمه دون علم غيره مع أن علمه أكثر من شهادة غيره ولكن فيه تعرضا لتهمة نفسه عند المسلمين وإيقاعا لهم في الظنون وقد كره النبي ﷺ الظن فقال إنما هذه صفية