—if mere suspicion clings to him because he is counted among the usual suspects, yet nothing definitive has been established that would oblige qasāmah, he must be held in custody until the claim against him becomes clear. If nothing is proven and his detention becomes protracted, he is required to swear fifty oaths, after which he is released.
If, however, one of the aforementioned grounds is present, qasāmah then devolves upon the slain man’s heirs, namely his agnatic kin. When the killing was intentional and the agnates are two or more adult males—fewer than two cannot swear in such a case—they begin the procedure and complete fifty categorical oaths, not oaths qualified by “to our knowledge.” Thereupon they acquire the right to the blood of the person against whom they swore, provided the homicide was deliberate, and no more than one individual may be executed on the basis of qasāmah.
Should the heirs claim the victim’s blood against a group, they choose whichever member of that group they wish; that person alone is executed, while the rest receive one hundred lashes and are imprisoned for a year. If the heirs number fifty men, each of them swears a single oath; if they are two men, each one swears twenty-five oaths, saying: “By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, So-and-so son of So-and-so killed the relative of So-and-so.”
This applies when qasāmah rests on the testimony of a single upright witness who attests to the killing. If two upright witnesses testify that the accused struck the victim, who then survived for a time and later died, the heirs swear: “By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, So-and-so died from the blow inflicted by So-and-so.” If there is only one witness to the blow or the wound, they swear: “By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, So-and-so son of So-and-so struck him, and he died from that blow.”
In cases of deliberate homicide, the oaths of qasāmah may not be undertaken by a single man, by a woman, or by a group of women. If those entitled to the blood exceed fifty men, only fifty of them are selected; they swear fifty oaths and the rest are excused. A report from Mālik states