or one of them). This is the position of Tawus, al-Sha'bi, al-Zuhri, al-Nakha'i, Qatada, Hammad, Malik, al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, his two companions, Ibn Abi Layla, and Ishaq. Al-Hasan, Abu Thawr, and Ibn al-Mundhir said: For each individual, there is a full hadd. A similar view is narrated from Ahmad. For al-Shafi'i, there are two opinions, like the two narrations. The basis for this is that he has slandered each one of them, so a full hadd is binding for each, just as if he had slandered them with separate statements. Our argument is the saying of Allah Almighty: {And those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses, lash them with eighty lashes}. He did not differentiate between slandering one person or a group. Furthermore, those who testified against al-Mughira slandered a woman, and Umar did not inflict upon them more than one hadd. Also, it is a single slander, so only one hadd is necessary, as if he had slandered one person. Additionally, the hadd is only necessitated by the shame introduced to the slandered person by his slander, and with a single hadd, the falsehood of this slanderer is made manifest, and the shame is removed, so it is sufficient. This is unlike the case where he slanders each person individually, for his falsehood in one instance of slander does not necessarily imply falsehood in another, and the shame is not removed from one of the slandered people by his being lashed for the other. When this is established, if they demand it collectively, the hadd is carried out for them. If only one of them demands it, the hadd is carried out, because the right is established for them on an alternative basis; whoever among them demands it fulfills the requirement and it lapses, and there is no right for the others to demand it, like the right of a woman regarding her guardians to marry her; if one acts upon it, it lapses for the rest. If one of them pardons him, the others have the right to demand it and have it carried out, because the shame upon him is not removed by the pardon of another. The one who pardoned does not have the right to demand it, because he has already relinquished his share of it. It is narrated from Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, another narration: if they demand it all at once, there is one hadd, and the same applies if they demand it one after another. However, if it is not carried out until all of them demand it, there is one hadd, but if one demands it and it is carried out for him, then another demands it...