Halif (judicial oath)

الحَلِف

Halif is lexically an oath, from a root meaning firm resolve; technically it is the affirmation of a ruling by naming something revered in a fixed form. ¹ Swearing in court makes one litigant take the oath to settle the dispute; the practice rests on the Prophet ﷺ's instruction to the defendant to swear by God, and his word to al-Ash'ath ibn Qays: your proof, or else his oath. ¹ A binding oath is sworn by God or His attributes, and swearing by other than God is forbidden. ^{1 2} Oaths lie over financial rights without dispute; a claim for a legal penalty of God is not sworn to, while non-financial private rights such as slander, retaliation, marriage, divorce, revocation and manumission are disputed between the schools. ^{2 3} The majority hold that the oath ends the dispute at once but does not discharge the right; the Malikis treat it as barring later proof except for a valid excuse. ³ The oath is sworn to the act itself, or to another's act by denial of knowledge; the Hanafis divide oaths on the cause from those on the outcome. ^{4 5} The judge administers the oath only when the claimant asks, and the Hanafis list five cases where it applies without that request. ^{5 6} For intention, the oath follows the swearer's intention when he is the wronged party and the examiner's intention when he is the wrongdoer. ⁶ The entry refers the reader to the headword on oaths (ayman) for detail, and closes at the next heading حِلْف on p.7251.