A deal was settled between the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and a Bedouin for the purchase of a horse, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) bought this horse from the Bedouin. After the conversation, the Bedouin set off behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in order to collect the price of the horse from him. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was walking quickly, while the Bedouin was walking slowly. On the way, the people did not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had bought the horse from this Bedouin. So the people began to name prices for the horse and started talking to the Bedouin about buying it.

When a higher price was offered for the horse, the Bedouin called out to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said that if he wanted to buy this horse, he should settle the deal, otherwise he would sell the horse.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do you not know that you have already sold this horse to me?”

The Bedouin said: “By Allah, I did not sell this horse to you.” And denying it, the Bedouin said: “Do you have any witness that I sold this horse to you?”

When this happened, there was no one else present with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Bedouin at that time, so the question of a witness did not even arise. At that moment, among the people present at the place where the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was passing, Hazrat Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) was present. When he heard the Bedouin say this, Hazrat Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I bear witness that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) bought this horse from you.”

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him): “On what basis are you testifying? You were not present when the deal for this horse was settled between us.” Hazrat Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted:

“O Messenger of Allah! May my parents be sacrificed for you — because of my belief in you!..... When I believe the heavenly news that you convey, and I believe the events that are to occur in the future, then can I not believe you in this purchase of the horse?”

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was extremely pleased with this reply of Hazrat Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said:

“O Khuzaymah! From today you are equal to two witnesses.” (That is, your testimony is equal to that of two witnesses.)

And he said: “In whose favor or against whom Khuzaymah testifies, his testimony alone is sufficient for him.”