these, although oath formulas may also be included implicitly and incidentally. The second chapter is the “Chapter on Oaths in General,” covering matters common to oaths by Allah and oaths invoking divorce, manumission, and other things. In it, they discuss oaths expressed through an oath formula, although conditional formulas may also be included implicitly and incidentally. The questions addressed in each chapter overlap with those of the other, since their meanings frequently—or usually—coincide.

Thus, some jurists, such as Abū al-Khattāb and others, placed the “Chapter on Oaths in General” immediately after the “Chapter on Making Divorce Conditional” in the Book of Divorce. Others, such as al-Khiraqī, Judge Abū Ya‘lā, and others, included the “Chapter on Oaths in General” only in the Book of Oaths, because it is more closely connected with that subject. A comparable example is the “Chapter on the Prescribed Punishment for Slander”: some place it alongside the “Chapter on Mutual Imprecation” because the two are connected, while others defer it to the Book of Prescribed Punishments, to which it more specifically belongs.

Once it is clear that an oath has two forms—an oath formula and a conditional formula—what comes first in the oath formula comes last in the conditional formula, and what comes last in the conditional formula comes first in the oath formula. A condition expressed affirmatively in the conditional formula is expressed negatively in the oath formula. For example, if someone says, “Divorce is binding upon me: I shall not do such-and-such,” he has sworn an oath invoking divorce that he will not do it. Divorce comes first and is expressed affirmatively; the action comes last and is negated.

If, instead, he swears using a conditional formula, saying, “If I do such-and-such, then my wife is divorced,” he places the action first, expressing it affirmatively, and divorce last, expressing it negatively—just as, in the oath formula, he placed the ruling first and the action last. This principle resolves a number of questions concerning oaths.