the claimant’s oath accompanied by one upright witness. This applies to every form of property claim apart from cases that concern bodily harm. Likewise, according to Mālik, a man may swear together with the testimony of two women just as he does with a single upright male witness. A woman, a slave, and a dhimmī may also take an oath with a just witness and thereby obtain their rights.
If a claimant refuses to swear with his witness while the defendant does swear, the defendant is absolved. Should the defendant decline the oath, the claim is fixed against him on the strength of that single witness because of his refusal.
The legatee may swear with his witness even if he is absent, and the same applies to the recipient of a gift, the beneficiary of an assigned right, and the person in whose favour an admission has been made: each of them may swear, though absent, together with his witness.
Mālik also said: If a man inherits from his father, finds an unfamiliar document bearing one witness in his favour, and wishes to proceed, he may swear and take what is due to him. Practice and established precedent rest on this rule. In all such cases, Mālik requires the oath to be decisive and unconditional.
The heirs may swear together with the witness of their father and obtain the claim. If they refuse, and their father was indebted, the creditors may swear and recover what is owed, according to Mālik and his associates as well.
In my view, no one may swear except about what he certainly knows. An executor does not swear together with two witnesses in matters under his supervision; rather, the defendant is made to swear and is then cleared. If, upon reaching adulthood, the minors choose to swear, they may do so and take their rights. Adult heirs may swear and receive what is theirs without waiting for the younger heirs to come of age. The death of the witness upon whose testimony they swore, or of the defendant, does not prejudice the minors; once they swear, they collect their rights from his estate.
If the defendant dies and the claimant will not swear with his witness, the defendant’s heirs swear that they know of no liability upon their father, and they are exonerated.
The master of a slave who has been granted permission to manage his own affairs may not swear on the slave’s behalf if the slave refuses—unless the slave is away on a distant journey.