in his legal cases in the Book of Acknowledgment of Paternity. It has also been said that, if she retracts her statement and accepts his account, she is not awarded what he acknowledged as her due unless he chooses to pay it to her. Ibn al-Qāsim stated this in Īsā’s transmission in the Book of Marriage, and also in Īsā’s transmission in the Book of Claims concerning heirs; there is no distinction between the two cases.
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If they disagree about whether intercourse occurred, and their married life has not formally begun, although he has visited her and the curtains have been drawn around her, Mālik expressed differing opinions. On one occasion, he said that her account of intercourse is accepted wherever the spouses were secluded behind a closed door, whether in her house or his. This accords with the apparent meaning of the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattāb: “Once the curtains have been drawn, the dower becomes due.” Mutarrif, Ibn al-Mājishūn, Ibn Wahb, Ibn Abd al-Hakam and Asbagh also held this view. On another occasion, Mālik said that if he visited her and was alone with her in his house, her account is accepted over his; if it was in her house, his account is accepted over hers, in accordance with the view of Saīd ibn al-Musayyab. Ibn al-Qāsim also held this view.
There is a third opinion on this question, held by Īsā ibn Dīnār: the husband’s account is accepted when he denies intercourse, wherever the spouses were secluded behind a closed door, whether in his house or hers. The woman’s allegation against him is not accepted unless his entry into her presence and seclusion with her occurred when he received her as his bride—that is, at the formal commencement of married life. A fourth opinion is attributed to Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—in Ibn Wahb’s transmission from him: if she was not a virgin, her account is accepted; if she was a virgin, women examine her. If they find signs that her virginity has been lost, her account is accepted over his; if they find no such signs, she is entitled only to half the dower. Abd al-Wahhāb related this transmission from Mālik.
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If, however, he has received her as his bride—that is, their married life has formally begun—neither Mālik nor any of his companions differed over accepting the woman’s account when she alleges intercourse and the husband denies it.
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According to Mālik and all his companions, seclusion does not make the full dower payable unless the woman alleges intercourse, even if that seclusion marks the formal commencement of married life. It merely provides grounds for accepting her account,