Section

Their oaths are to be worded as follows. When they disagree over the journey as a whole, the owner swears that he did not hire it out to the hirer as far as such-and-such a town. He need not add to his oath, “He did indeed hire it from me as far as such-and-such a town,” unless he wishes to do so in the hope that the other party will decline to swear, thus sparing himself another oath. Alternatively, if he wishes, he may say, “I hired it out to him only as far as such-and-such a town,” combining both points in a single statement.

The hirer then swears by Allah, “I did not hire it from him as far as such-and-such a place.” He does not add to his oath, “I did indeed hire it from him as far as such-and-such a town,” since this serves him no purpose: the owner has already denied it under oath. The exception is if the hirer is required to swear first, contrary to the preferred view that the seller should swear first, and in accordance with the interpretation that the scholars used to place on Yahyā’s narration in the section on miscellaneous questions of sales in al-‘Utbiyya—an interpretation which is not correct. In that case, he may add this to his oath if he wishes, or say, “I hired it from him only as far as such-and-such a place,” in the hope that the owner will decline to swear, thus sparing himself another oath. Apply this same pattern to the oaths of parties to a sale or a hire contract wherever both parties are required to swear and rescind the contract.

Section

If one party declines to swear and the other swears, the statement of the party who swears is accepted. Here, however, he must swear to both points, or, if he wishes, combine them in a single statement, as explained above.

Section

If both parties swear, there are four opinions as to whether rescission takes effect upon completion of their oaths: (first) rescission takes effect upon completion of their oaths. This is Sahnūn’s view and the apparent meaning of