The purchaser claims it is defective and wishes to return it; he [the seller] may swear that he sold it free of defect. The claimant should not swear except after verification and a predominant belief approaching certainty. The judge should say to them: "Fear Allah and seek verification." He should exhort them, warn them, and recite to them: "Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allah and their oaths for a small price" [Qur'an 3:77]. He should inform them of what lies in false oaths, the oppression of the innocent, and the killing of a soul without right, and he should inform them that the punishment of this world is lighter than the punishment of the Hereafter. This is the entire position of Al-Shafi'i.

Section: It is recommended to seek reinforcement in the oaths of the qasamah as a form of emphasis. He should say: "By Allah, besides Whom there is no god, the Knower of the betrayal of the eyes and what the chests conceal." If he limits himself to the expression: "By Allah" (wa-Allah), it suffices. Or he may say: "By Allah" (wa-Allah), or "By Allah" (bi-Allah), or "By Allah" (ta-Allah), in the genitive case as the Arabic requires. If he says it with a damma (wa-Allahu) or a fatha (wa-Allaha), he has committed a grammatical error (lahn). The Qadi said: "It is valid for him whether he intended it or did not intend it, because it is a grammatical error that does not change the meaning." This is also the statement of Al-Shafi'i. Anything added to this is for emphasis. He says: "This person, son of such-and-such, the so-and-so" - pointing to him - "has killed my son, or my brother, solely by his own killing, without anyone else participating with him." If there are two, he says: "Solely by their killing, without anyone else participating with them." Then he says: "Intentionally or erroneously." Any name of the names of Allah or any attribute of His attributes by which he swears is sufficient, provided its expression refers to Allah the Exalted. The defendant says in the oath: "By Allah, I did not kill him, nor did I participate in his killing, nor did I cause anything from which he died, nor was I a cause of his death, nor an assistant in his death."

1529- Issue: He said: "Whoever kills a protected soul, or participates in it, or strikes a woman’s belly, and she casts out a dead fetus, and the act was erroneous, the perpetrator must free a believing slave. If he does not find one, then he must fast for two consecutive months as a repentance from Allah." And from Abu Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him: