سورة المائدة

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) said: [it means the Muslim who is] more deserving with respect to the testimony, and that is the testimony of oaths.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): It has been said: the meaning of "al-Awlayan" is the one foremost in giving testimony, who is from the Muslims. فَیُقْسِمانِ بِالله لَشَهادَتُنا أَحَقُّ مِنْ شَهادَتِهِما [so they two shall swear by Allah: our testimony is truer than the testimony of those two] — it has been said: the meaning is that they say: by Allah, our oath is better than the oath of those two [witnesses]. وَ مَا اعْتَدَیْنا [and we have not exceeded the limit], meaning: in our right which we claimed, we did not exceed the truth.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): إِنْ عُثِرَ means that information is obtained and it becomes apparent. عَلی أَنَّهُمَا means the two witnesses.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated that when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) commanded that those two [witnesses] be put under oath, so that they would say: "By Allah, we did not collect anything for him other than this, and we did not conceal it." Then a silver vessel engraved with gold designs appeared with those two [witnesses]. [The heirs of the deceased] said: "This was among his belongings." The two [witnesses] said: "We bought it from him." So they brought the dispute to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family); as a result, this was revealed: فَإِنْ عُثِرَ عَلی أَنَّهُمَا اسْتَحَقَّا إِثْماً فَآخَرانِ یَقُومانِ مَقامَهُما مِنَ الَّذِینَ اسْتَحَقَّ [Then if it becomes known that they both have been guilty of a sin, two others shall stand up in their place from among those who have a claim against them]. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) commanded two men from the family of the deceased to swear regarding what those two had hidden and concealed; so Abd Allah ibn Amr and al-Muttalib ibn Abi Wada'ah swore and became entitled to [that vessel]. Then Tamim became a Muslim and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and used to say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) spoke the truth, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) conveyed [the truth]; I was the one who took the vessel."