nor in cases of taʿzīr (discretionary punishment), acts of worship1, the giving of charity, expiations, or vows, and likewise not upon a witness who has retracted his testimony nor a judge who has annulled his ruling.

The defendant must take an oath in every claim involving a human right that seeks monetary compensation—such as debts, personal injuries, or property damage.

If he refuses to swear, judgment is entered against him.

When he swears to deny an act attributed to himself, or to deny a debt claimed against him, he must swear categorically. If, however, he swears to deny a claim concerning someone else—such as his deceased predecessor, his slave, or his ward2—he swears only to his lack of knowledge. Should the claimant produce a witness for anything beyond that, the defendant must supplement it with a categorical oath.

If an oath is directed at him on behalf of several claimants, he must swear separately to each one unless they agree to accept a single oath.

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The judge may intensify the wording of the oath in matters of real gravity—such as an assault that does not entail retaliation, the emancipation of a slave, or a large sum of money equivalent to the zakāt threshold.

To intensify a Muslim’s oath, he is made to say: “By Allah, there is no god but He, the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the Pursuer of the absent, the One who harms and benefits, who knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal.”