nawawiDay.arabicText

nawawiDay.englishTranslation

— Ibn ‘Abbās (RA) (al-Bayhaqī (ḥasan))

nawawiDay.commentary

The foundation of Islamic procedural law — applied today in every Sharī‘ah court.

nawawiDay.extendedExplanation

The procedural backbone of Islamic justice. The claimant (mudda‘ī) carries the burden of proof; the denier (munkir) is asked to swear an oath. Without this rule, every accusation would equal a conviction.

Ibn Rajab notes: this hadith protects the innocent. In a society without this rule, the loud, the rich, or the connected accuser would always win against the quiet defendant. Islam reverses the imbalance — the burden of producing evidence rests on the one disturbing the status quo (i.e., making the claim).

nawawiDay.fromScholars

"If claims were accepted without proof, lives and wealth would be lost — so the burden was placed on the claimant."

— Ibn Daqīq al-‘Eid · Sharḥ al-Arba‘īn

"This is also a personal ethics: do not accuse without proof. Slander and false suspicion violate this hadith just as much as false testimony in court does."

— Ibn ‘Uthaymīn

nawawiDay.fiqhRulings

  • •In Sharī‘ah courts: claimant produces witnesses or documentary evidence; if absent, the defendant takes an oath of denial.
  • •If the defendant takes the oath and the claimant has no proof, the case is dismissed — even if the defendant is secretly lying (his sin is between him and Allah).
  • •Some rights have higher proof standards (zinā requires four eyewitnesses to the act itself) — protecting against false accusation.

nawawiDay.quranCrossRefs

24:4‘Those who accuse chaste women and do not produce four witnesses — flog them eighty lashes…’ — the Qur’ānic protection against false accusation.
49:12‘Avoid much suspicion. Indeed, some suspicion is sin.’

nawawiDay.keyVocab

البَيِّنَةُal-bayyinah

the proof / clear evidence

المُدَّعِيal-mudda‘ī

the claimant

اليَمِينُal-yamīn

the oath

أَنْكَرَankara

denied

nawawiDay.todaysReflection

When you accuse someone, do you have proof? If not, hold your tongue.

nawawiDay.keyBenefits

  • 1Accusations require evidence.
  • 2Suspicion alone is not enough to act on.

nawawiDay.warnings

  • ⚠Spreading accusations on social media without evidence is a violation of this principle — even if the accusation is later proved.
  • ⚠‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is the Islamic default — bringing an accusation without proof is itself sin.

nawawiDay.relatedHadiths

Muslim — ‘If people were given by their claims, men would claim the wealth and blood of others’

nawawiDay.memorisation