Chapter: If the claimant requests that a record (mahdar) be written for him concerning what transpired, the judge is obligated to comply with his request. He shall write for him: 'There appeared before the judge, So-and-so, son of So-and-so, the judge of [the region of] So-and-so, son of So-and-so, or his deputy, So-and-so, son of So-and-so—if he is a deputy—and brought with him So-and-so, son of So-and-so. He then laid a claim to a house in his possession'—and he specifies it, mentioning its boundaries and characteristics—'and the defendant acknowledged it to be for So-and-so, son of So-and-so, who is, at this moment, absent from the judge's city. The claimant then presented evidence, which consists of So-and-so, son of So-and-so, and So-and-so, son of So-and-so, and they testified before him on behalf of the claimant regarding what he claimed. The judge established their reliability through means by which the acceptance of their testimony is permissible, or So-and-so and So-and-so testified to their reliability before him. He accepted their testimony, passed judgment based on it against the absent party, and placed every person who holds proof upon their proof.' If the absent party has already arrived and did not bring proof, he adds: 'And the absent party, for whom it was acknowledged, So-and-so, arrived and did not bring proof that would turn the claimant away from his claim.' And if he presented evidence upon his arrival, he adds: 'And he presented evidence.' And the evidence of the claimant was prioritized over his evidence because it is the evidence of the 'outsider' (al-kharij).

Chapter: If a person claims that his father died and left him and a brother of his who is absent—and there is no heir to him besides them—and he left a house in the possession of this man, and the possessor denied it, and the claimant produced evidence for what he claimed, the house is established for the deceased. The house is seized from the possession of the denier, half of it is delivered to the claimant, and the other half is placed in the hands of a trustee for the absent party to lease it on his behalf. This is likewise the case if the claimed object is something that can be moved and transferred. This is the view of al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifa said: If it is something that cannot be moved or transferred, or...