guarantor for his companion. If the creditor absolves one of them from the one thousand, he is acquitted of it, his companion is acquitted of his guaranty, and five hundred remains upon him. [If one of them pays five hundred] (17), or the creditor absolves him from it, and specifies the payment in his wording or by evidence as being on behalf of the principal debt or the guaranty, it is applied to it. If he is absolute [in his wording], it is possible that he has the right to apply it to whichever he wishes of the two, [like one who pays the Zakat of one nisaab while he has two nisaabs, one absent and one present; he has the right to apply it to whichever he wishes of the two] (18). It is also possible that half of it is on behalf of the principal and half on behalf of the guaranty; because the absolute nature of the payment and the absolution applies to the entirety of what is in his liability, so it is from both of them (19). What is considered in payment is the wording and intention of the payer, and in absolution, the wording and intention of the absolver. Whenever they differ in that, the statement to be accepted is that of the one whose wording and intention is considered.

Section: If he claims one thousand from a person present and a person absent, and that each of them is a guarantor for his companion, and the person present confesses to that, he has the right to take the thousand from him. If the absent person arrives and confesses, his companion has recourse against him for half of it. If he denies it, his statement is accepted along with his oath. If the person present denies it, his statement is accepted along with his oath. If evidence is established against him and he collects the thousand from him, he does not have recourse against the absent person for anything; because by his denial, he is acknowledging that there is no right against him, and that the claimant merely wronged him. If the absent person confesses and the person present retracts his denial, he has the right to collect from him; because he is claiming against him a right which he confesses for him, so he has the right to take it from him. If no evidence is established against the person present, he takes an oath and is acquitted. If the absent person arrives and also denies it and takes an oath, he is acquitted. If he confesses, he is obligated to pay the thousand. Some of the companions of Al-Shafiʿi said: He is not obligated to pay anything except the original five hundred, not the guaranteed portion; because it lapsed from the person whose liability was guaranteed by his oath, so it lapses from his guarantor. Our position is that he is acknowledging (20) it and his creditor is claiming it.