of the dower; but if marital relations had already taken place, they incur no liability.

If the two witnesses state that a man has set his slave free and then retract, they must pay the slave’s market value. If they testify in a case of qisās (retaliatory execution) and, after the condemned person has been put to death, they withdraw their testimony, they are liable for the full blood money, yet no retaliation is taken against them.

When the derivative (secondary) witnesses retract, they are liable. If it is the original witnesses who retract and say, “We never authorized the secondary witnesses to testify on our behalf,” they bear no liability; but if they admit, “We did authorize them, and we erred,” they become liable. Should the secondary witnesses now declare, “The original witnesses lied or were mistaken in their testimony,” the court will then consider that claim.

If four witnesses testify to adultery and two others testify that the accused was previously married, and the two who established marital status subsequently retract, they are not liable. However, if those who vouched for a witness’s uprightness later revoke their endorsement, they are liable.

Where two witnesses attest that an oath was taken and another two attest that a stipulated condition was fulfilled, and all of them later retract, liability rests exclusively with the pair who testified to the oath.