Many scholars nevertheless deem it permissible for the exception to exceed one-half.
For an exception in an acknowledgement to be valid, it must be uttered in immediate conjunction with the original statement. Thus, if a person says, “He has against me one hundred,” then pauses for an interval during which he could have spoken, and only afterwards adds, “counterfeit,” or “deferred,” he remains liable for one hundred—genuine and payable forthwith. Nothing he inserts after that silence is considered, because he is attempting to nullify a right that has already attached to him.
If someone sells, donates, or emancipates an item and later admits that it actually belonged to another person, the admission is not accepted and the sale, gift, or emancipation is not revoked, for this would be an acknowledgement concerning another’s right. He must, however, pay its value to the person in whose favor he made the admission, since he has deprived him of it.
An acknowledgement of something unspecified is also valid; this is when, in the acknowledger’s view, the wording can equally refer to two or more possibilities. Hence, if someone says, “So-and-so has something due from me,” or “He has such-and-such against me,” the confession stands, and the acknowledger is required to clarify it so that he can be compelled to discharge it. If he refuses to clarify, he is detained until he does so, for clarification is incumbent upon him: it is a right that must be explained and fulfilled for its owner. Should he say, “I have no knowledge of the matter to which I confessed,” he must swear an oath and then pay the smallest amount the expression can denote. If he dies before clarifying, his heir incurs no liability and no part of the estate is taken, because what he acknowledged might not be property at all.
If he says, “I owe him one thousand except a little,” the exception is construed as less than one-half.
If he says, “I owe him what lies between one dirham and ten,” he is liable for eight, for eight is what lies between one and ten.