If they give him the two compensations in settlement of his claim, it is valid. But if he says, “Acknowledge my debt, and I will give you such-and-such of it,” and he does so, the acknowledgment is valid but not the settlement.

His statement, “If they give him the two compensations in settlement of his claim, it is valid”: “they give him the two compensations” means that the defendant alleged to be a slave offers the compensation, and the female defendant alleged to be his wife offers the compensation. The pronoun in “the two” refers to the two compensations, while the pronoun in “him” refers to the claimant. “In settlement of his claim, it is valid,” because the purpose is merely to avert the claim, so it is valid.

An example is where one man says to another, “You are my slave,” and persists in his claim, saying, “We will go to court so that I can establish that you are my slave. Either we go to the judge, or you give me one thousand dirhams.” The person against whom slavery is claimed does not want any trouble, so he complies and says, “Take one thousand dirhams, and let us not go to the judge.” This is valid. The acknowledgment is not valid outwardly; as for the Hereafter, the acknowledgment is not valid with respect to whichever of the two is the wrongdoer, but it is valid with respect to the one who has been wronged.

The same applies in the case of marriage. A man detains a woman and says, “You are my wife.” She denies it and says, “I am not your wife.” But he insists that she either acknowledge it or go to court. So she says, “Here are one thousand dirhams in settlement of your claim.” In this case, it is valid with respect to her, both outwardly and inwardly. With respect to the claimant, it is valid outwardly but not inwardly. Therefore, Allah, Exalted is He, will hold him accountable for his lie against this woman.

His statement, “If he says, ‘Acknowledge my debt, and I will give you such-and-such of it,’ and he does so, the acknowledgment is valid but not the settlement.”

An example is where a man says, “Acknowledge my debt, and you may have half of it.” That is, he says, “I am claiming ten thousand riyals from you. Acknowledge it, and you may have five thousand of it.” He says, “Yes,” and acknowledges before the judge that he owes so-and-so ten thousand riyals,