a letter from one judge to another, so it is similar to if they were equal [in status]. It is permissible to write to a specific judge, or to whomsoever of the Muslim judges and magistrates my letter reaches, without specification, and it is mandatory for the one it reaches to accept it. This is the view of Abu Thawr, and Abu Yusuf deemed it sound. Abu Hanifa said: It is not permissible to write to a non-specific person. Our view is that it is a letter from a judge within his jurisdiction that has reached another judge, so he is obligated to accept it, just as if the letter were addressed to him personally.

Section: The format of the letter is: In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The cause [of this correspondence], may Allah lengthen the life of whichever of the Muslim judges and magistrates this reaches, is that it has been established before me in my council of judgment and adjudication, which I oversee in such-and-such a place—and if he is a deputy, he says: which I oversee as a deputy for Judge so-and-so—in the presence of two adversaries, a plaintiff and a defendant, from whom it was permissible to hear the claim, and to accept evidence from one against the other, through the testimony of so-and-so and so-and-so. They are among the witnesses deemed upright before me; I have known them and accepted their testimony, through what I witnessed along with accepting [their testimony as] the identification of so-and-so son of so-and-so, by his very person, name, and lineage. If it concerns proving the captivity of a prisoner, he says: And that the Franks—may Allah forsake them—captured him [from place] so-and-so, at time so-and-so, and took him to place so-and-so, and he remains under their control—may Allah destroy them—and that he is a poor man from the poor Muslims, possessing nothing of the world, and is unable to ransom himself, nor is he capable of anything [to do so], and that he is entitled to charity, according to what the record document referred to necessitates, which is attached at the beginning to the end of this letter of mine, dated such-and-such. And if it is to prove a debt, he writes: And that there is rightfully established as a liability against so-and-so son of so-and-so—he raises [the mention of] his lineage and describes him by that which distinguishes him—a debt of such-and-such amount, a debt upon him that is immediate, and a right that is necessary and binding, and that he is entitled to demand it and collect it from him. And if it is to prove an entity, he writes: And that he is the owner of the specific item held by so-and-so—he describes it with a description that distinguishes it—and he is entitled to take it and have it surrendered to him, according to what the record document necessitates, which is attached to the end of this letter of mine, dated such-and-such. And the two aforementioned witnesses said: