1328 - Issue: He said: "And he is not confronted [to perform it] until his wife demands it of him." This means he is not to be pressed to carry out the hadd or to perform li'an until his wife demands that of him, because this is a right belonging to her; thus, it is not established without her demand, like all her other rights. Her guardian does not have the right to demand it on her behalf if she is mentally incapacitated or under interdiction, nor does the guardian of a young girl or the master of a slave woman have the right to demand ta'zir on their behalf, because this is a right established for the purpose of seeking redress (tashaffi), and another cannot stand in the place of the one entitled to it, such as in qisas (retaliation). If the husband desires li'an without a demand, we examine the case: if there is no lineage he wishes to negate, he has no right to perform li'an. The same applies to every situation where the hadd is dropped, such as if he produces evidence of her adultery, or she absolves him of the accusation, or he has already been punished for her sake, then wishes to perform li'an against her without any lineage to be negated; in such cases, li'an is not legislated. This is the statement of the majority of scholars, and we do not know of any dissenter regarding it, except for some of al-Shafi'i's companions who said: He has the right to perform li'an in order to terminate the marital tie (firaq). The correct view among them, however, is the same as the opinion of the majority, because the termination of the marital tie is possible through divorce, and the perpetual prohibition is not an objective for which li'an is legislated; it merely occurs as a secondary consequence. As for if there is a child he wishes to negate, the Qadi said: He has the right to perform li'an to negate it. This is the madhhab of al-Shafi'i, because when Hilal ibn Umayyah accused his wife and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and informed him, he sent for her, and he performed li'an between them, even though she had not demanded it. Furthermore, because he is in need of negating the child, a path to doing so has been legislated for him, just as if she had demanded it. Moreover, the negation of false lineage is a right of his, so it does not lapse by her consent to it, just as if she were to demand li'an but consent to the child. It is also possible that li'an is not legislated here, just as if he accused her and she confirmed it, which is the opinion of the Ahl al-Ra'y (the Hanafi school); this is because it is one of the two requirements of accusation (qadhf), so it is not legislated in the absence of a demand, just like the hadd.