his father comes and ransoms him, pays the claimant what he claimed, and the son leaves prison. He does this repeatedly. Then one day a man came to one of the judges and brought a claim against him for a large sum of money. The man acknowledged the claim, but the judge became suspicious: how could he acknowledge such a claim so quickly? Before long, his father came complaining, saying, “This is my son. He has exhausted my wealth. He arranges for someone to bring a large claim against him; then he acknowledges it and is imprisoned until the claimed sum is paid. I then ransom him and pay the money, half of which goes to him and half to the claimant. He has worn me out.” The judge said, “Praise be to Allah! Then my intuition was not mistaken.”

In any case, we say that this is rare, unless it is done as a ruse. Yet someone may say that it could occur. For example, a man may initially intend to consume wealth unlawfully, but when he comes before the judge, he remembers that he will stand before Allah with his opponent. His heart then softens, and he says, “I should acknowledge the truth here, so that it may be taken from me before it is taken from my righteous deeds.” Or perhaps the defendant had forgotten, and so denied the claim or alleged, for example, that he had already paid it; then, while sitting before the judge, he remembered. The point, in any case, is that if he acknowledges the claim, the judge rules for the claimant against the defendant on the basis of his acknowledgment.

“And if he denies it, he says to the claimant: ‘If you have evidence, then produce it, if you wish.’ If he produces it, he hears it and rules accordingly; and he does not rule on the basis of his own knowledge, ..........”

His statement, “And if he denies it,” means: if the defendant denies it.

His statement, “He says to the claimant,” means that the judge says to the claimant: “If you have evidence, then produce it, if you wish.” If the defendant denies the claim, the judge says to the claimant, “If you have evidence, then produce it, if you wish.” Notice the gentleness shown toward the litigants: he does not say, “Produce your evidence”; rather, he says: