any debt incurred during his healthy days, the acknowledgment is upheld and the person in whose favour it was made has priority over the heirs. An acknowledgment issued by a sick person in favour of one of his heirs is void unless the remaining heirs concur.

If, while ill, he acknowledges a debt to a stranger and then says, “He is my son,” the paternity is confirmed and the debt is void. Should he acknowledge a debt to an unrelated woman and later marry her, the acknowledgment remains valid. If, during his illness, he pronounces an irrevocable triple divorce against his wife, then acknowledges a debt to her and dies, she receives whichever is smaller: the amount of the debt or the share she would have inherited from him.

When a man claims as his son a boy whose age makes such paternity plausible, who has no known lineage, and the boy affirms him, the lineage is established—even if the man is on his death-bed—and the boy shares the inheritance with the other heirs.

A man’s acknowledgment is admissible with respect to his parents, his children, his wife, and his mawla (client or freed slave). A woman’s acknowledgment is accepted regarding her parents, her husband, and her mawla, but not regarding a child unless her husband confirms it or a midwife testifies to her delivery.

If someone acknowledges the lineage of a person outside those categories—such as a brother or an uncle—the claim is not accepted. If the deceased has any recognised heir, near or distant, that heir outranks the person named in the acknowledgment; but if he leaves no heir, the acknowledged person inherits his estate.

If a man’s father dies and the son then acknowledges a brother, the brother’s lineage is not established, yet he nevertheless shares with the son in the inheritance.