The judge then affixes a seal to its neck bearing the name of the person who has proved his right, and he gives the claimant a letter addressed to the judge of the town to which he is travelling, recording the facts established in court so that the claim may be upheld there and that judge may recover from the seller the price that had been paid. If the property in question is a female slave, and the claimant is known to be trustworthy, she is handed over to him; otherwise, he must hire a reliable escort to accompany her.
Mālik said: “I have always heard that, in such cases, a brand is placed on their necks.”
Should the claimant return with the animal after it has lost an eye or suffered a fracture, he is liable for the damage, for the injury occurred while the animal was in his custody. The value he deposited belongs to the person who acknowledged the claimant’s right, and the same rule applies to every other kind of merchandise. He is not, however, responsible for a mere fall in market price; in that situation he may return the item and take back the sum he deposited.
Ibn al-Qāsim said: If two people dispute the ownership of an absent slave, testimony based on a detailed description is admissible, and the same holds for any animal or piece of merchandise: the witnesses may testify about it even when it is absent, provided they describe, clarify, and identify it precisely, and judgment is given for the claimant in accordance with their testimony.
Ibn Kinābah maintained that testimony concerning an absent item is accepted only when the item is in no one’s possession; but if it is in someone’s hand, testimony is admissible only in regard to the very object itself.
If a man claims that a slave was stolen from him and produces witnesses who testify merely that they heard a slave had been stolen from him, or who state that the slave now in question is his and was stolen from him, yet those witnesses are not upright—and he has other evidence in another town—then asks to deposit the slave’s value so that he may take it there for his evidence to testify before that town’s judge, he may not do so unless he brings at least one upright witness or conclusive testimony confirming what was heard.
When someone claims an animal or a slave in another man’s possession, says that his evidence is present or nearby, and asks that the item be detained until he can bring his witnesses to testify to that very object, the request is granted if the delay is short—about a day, or at most three days. But if his witnesses are far away, the item is not impounded for him unless he produces a single upright witness or supporting testimony of the kind already described, because detaining the property pending distant evidence would cause harm to its current possessor.