among them in that matter until they establish the underlying title before him, for his partition of the property constitutes a judgment that vests ownership in those to whom he awards it. If they apportion it among themselves without having first proven title in his presence, he must record in the deed of partition that the division took place solely on the basis of their joint admission, not on evidence testifying to their ownership.
The holder of a right may not prevent his debtor from travelling, nor may the judge oblige the debtor to furnish a surety (ḥamīl), unless the term of the debt is so near that, in most cases, he would be unable to return from his journey before it falls due. In that circumstance the creditor is entitled to secure his debt.
Whoever claims a slave, a beast of burden, any other livestock, a garment, a vessel, or any other merchandise and produces a single witness: if the judge applies the rule of one witness plus an oath, he rules for the claimant on the strength of the witness together with the claimant’s oath. If the judge does not apply that rule, he removes the disputed article from the possessor’s hand and places it with a trustworthy custodian until the claimant produces a second witness and thereby establishes his right to it.
The cost of maintaining the animal—its grazing and fodder—during the period of impoundment, beginning the day it is seized, is borne by the party in whose favour judgment is ultimately pronounced. If the impounded animals are sheep, their yield during the impoundment belongs to the one who eventually wins the case, while any yield obtained before the witnesses testified remains with the prior possessor.
If merchandise or livestock is impounded for a claimant on the testimony of a single upright witness, on condition that he bring another but he fails to do so, and the judge does not accept an oath alongside a single witness, the defendant must swear by Allah—there is no deity but He—that he does not know the claim to be true; the property is then returned to him. Should he refuse to swear, the claimant swears together with his witness and takes the disputed item. The same applies if the defendant defaults on the oath and the claimant swears, even when the claimant has no witness at all.
If, however, the judge is of those who adjudicate on the basis of an oath together with a single witness, the claimant is made to swear, along with his witness, by Allah—there is no deity but He—that the property is his and that the defendant has wrongfully deprived him of it.