as being against me. He also appointed 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far as his agent before 'Uthman and said: "Litigation has its perils (quham), and the Shaytan attends them, and I dislike to attend them." Abu Ziyad said: The quham are the perils. These are stories that have become widespread because they occurred in a position of prominence, and no objection to them has been reported. Moreover, there is a need for this, as a person may have a right or a claim brought against him, and he may not know how to litigate, or he may not wish to handle it himself. Agency is permissible in making an admission (iqrar). There are two views among the followers of al-Shafi'i; one is that agency is not permissible in it, because it is an informing of a right, so agency is not allowed in it, just as in testimony. Our view is that it is the establishment of a right upon one's own liability through speech, so agency is permissible in it, like selling. It differs from testimony, for testimony does not establish a right; rather, it is an informing of its establishment against someone else.

Section: Agency is not valid in testimony, because it is related to the person of the witness himself, as it is a report of what he saw or heard, and this meaning is not realized in his deputy. If he appoints a deputy in it, the deputy is a witness to his testimony, because he conveys what he heard from the original witness, and he is not an agent. It is not valid in oaths and vows, because they are related to the person of the swearer and the person who made the vow, so they resemble bodily acts of worship and hadd punishments. It is not valid in ila' (a vow to abstain from sexual relations with one's wife), qasamah (oaths taken to resolve homicide cases), and li'an (mutual imprecation), because they are oaths. Nor is it in the division of time between wives, because it relates to the body of the husband for a purpose not found in others. Nor is it in suckling, because it is specific to the wet-nurse and the suckling child, due to a matter specific to the establishment of the suckling child's flesh and the firming of his bones by the milk of the wet-nurse. Nor is it in zihar (comparing one's wife to a prohibited female relative), because it is a denied and false statement, so it is not permitted to perform it, nor to deputize for it. It is not valid in cases of usurpation (ghasb), because it is prohibited. Nor in crimes (jinayat), for the same reason. Nor in any prohibited act, because it is not permissible for him to perform it, so it is not permissible for his deputy.

Section: As for the rights of Allah the Exalted, if any of them are hadd punishments, such as the hadd for adultery or theft, agency is permissible