a slave comes forward to acknowledge him, the child is attached to that slave as well—though another opinion makes this conditional upon the slave’s master confirming the claim. If a woman seeks to affiliate him, he is not attached to her according to the soundest view. Likewise, when two claimants appear, a Muslim and free man is not given priority over a dhimmī or a slave.

If no conclusive evidence is produced, the case is referred to a qāʾif (physiognomist); the child is then linked to whichever claimant the qāʾif judges him to most closely resemble. Should no qāʾif be available, or should he be uncertain, or should he disassociate the child from both claimants—or, conversely, attribute him to both—the child, upon reaching puberty, is instructed to affiliate himself with the one toward whom his natural inclination leans. If two mutually contradictory sets of evidence are presented, they cancel each other out according to the preponderant opinion.