inheritance; for this reason, chastity is considered [therein, and chastity is not considered] in his mother, because the slander is directed at him. Abu Bakr said: The hadd is not obligatory for slandering a dead person under any circumstances. This is the view of the Ahl al-Ra'y (the Rationalist school); for it is a slander against someone who cannot legitimately demand [the hadd], so it resembles slandering a madman. Al-Shafi'i said: If the deceased is chaste (muhsan), then his guardian has the right to demand it, and it is divided according to the distribution of inheritance. If they were not chaste, then there is no hadd upon the slanderer; because they are not chaste, so the hadd is not obligatory for slandering them, just as if they were alive. Most scholars do not see the hadd applicable to one who does not slander a chaste person, whether alive or dead; for if they are not subjected to hadd for slandering a non-chaste person while alive, then it is more appropriate that they are not subjected to hadd for slandering them after their death. Our argument is the statement of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) regarding the woman of li'an: "And whoever slanders her son, then the hadd is upon him." This means whoever slanders him by saying he is a son of zina. And if it becomes obligatory for slandering the son of the woman of li'an in such a manner, then it is more appropriate for slandering others. Furthermore, the Ahl al-Ra'y made the hadd obligatory upon one who disavows a man from his father if both his parents were free Muslims, even if they were dead, and the hadd was only obligatory for the son, because in their view, the hadd is not inherited. As for if his mother is slandered after her death while he is a polytheist or a slave, then there is no hadd upon him, according to the apparent meaning of al-Khiraqi's words, whether the mother was a free Muslim woman or not. Abu Thawr and the Ahl al-Ra'y said: If he says to a disbeliever or a slave: 'You do not belong to your father,' and his parents were free Muslims, then the hadd is upon him. And if he says to a slave whose mother is free and whose father is a slave: 'You do not belong to your father,' then the hadd is upon him, even if the slave belongs to the slanderer [according to Abu Thawr]. The Ahl al-Ra'y said: It is considered repulsive that a master should be subjected to the hadd for his slave. They argued that this is a slander against his mother, so her chastity is considered rather than his, because if she were alive, the slander would be against her; thus, it is the same if she is