Section: Interpreting an Oath

Its meaning is that the swearer intends by his words something other than their outward sense.

¹If a person swears an oath and assigns to it such an interpretation, that interpretation is admitted in his favor—unless he is acting unjustly. Thus, when a wrong-doer swears, “Zayd has nothing with you²,” while actually keeping a deposit of Zayd’s in another place and inwardly means some other property—or he treats the word mā as a relative pronoun rather than a negation—; or he swears, “Zayd is not here,” intending a place different from the one understood; or he swears concerning his wife, “She has not stolen anything from me,” although she has betrayed him with respect to a deposit³ of his and he did not have that in mind, then in all of these cases he is not deemed to have broken his oath⁴.