وإذا قال: له علي مال فالمرجع في بيانه إليه
If someone says, 'I owe him property,' the initial identification of that property rests with the admitting party.
Mal has a specifically financial sense, unlike the broader word shayʾ. It requires property with recognized value, but it does not by itself authorize a judge to assume a very large sum. Adding the adjective ʿazim changes the rule.
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The expression mal
Kitab al-Iqrar: Capacity, Unspecified Rights, and Amounts in Admissions
وإذا قال: له علي مال فالمرجع في بيانه إليه
If someone says, 'I owe him property,' the initial identification of that property rests with the admitting party.
Mal has a specifically financial sense, unlike the broader word shayʾ. It requires property with recognized value, but it does not by itself authorize a judge to assume a very large sum. Adding the adjective ʿazim changes the rule.