He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. As for the wife he had divorced, she is to receive the prescribed punishment of eighty lashes for her accusation, if the woman she accused requests it. Her testimony is never to be accepted, because she is a sinner. Likewise, the man is to receive eighty lashes if the woman requests it. His testimony is never to be accepted, and he remains a sinner unless he repents.

Can he avert the prescribed punishment through liʿān (mutual oaths of imprecation)? Jurists hold three opinions on this within the school of Ahmad and other schools. One opinion permits him to undertake liʿān; another does not. A third permits it if there is a child whose paternity he wishes to deny; otherwise, it does not.

Her dowry remains owed by him and is not forfeited through liʿān, as established by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The imams agree on all of this, except for the permissibility of liʿān mentioned above, concerning which there are three opinions:

The first: He may not undertake liʿān. Rather, he receives the prescribed punishment for accusing someone of unlawful sexual intercourse, and his testimony is no longer accepted. This is Ahmad’s position according to the best-known reports from him, and one of the two positions within the school of al-Shāfiʿī.

The second: He may undertake liʿān. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and of Ahmad according to one report from him.

The third: If there is a pregnancy, he may undertake liʿān to deny paternity of the unborn child; otherwise, he may not. This is one of the two positions within the school of al-Shāfiʿī and one report from Ahmad. Allah knows best.

He was asked:

About a man who said to another, “You are a sinner and a wine-drinker,” and withheld from him the rental income from property whose use he lawfully owns?