A man who insinuates a false accusation against another: what is due for that?

Muhammad bin Ishaq said: Al-Qasim was asked about a man who says to another man: O son of a tailor, or O son of a cupper, or O son of a butcher, while his father is no such thing: what is the ruling on him? At this al-Qasim said: We found that the prescribed punishments were not carried out except in the case of a clear accusation or a clear denial (of lineage).

Abd al-Karim said that Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: The prescribed punishment is not applied except to the one who sets it up in an entirely clear manner.

Isma'il bin Salim said: There was a quarrel between two men, and one of them said to the other: No child of fornication has been born in Kufah without the other one bearing a resemblance to him. The other said: If what the other one has were uncovered, not one immoral woman would remain in Kufah without his knowing her. Al-Sha'bi was asked about this, and he said: The prescribed punishment (hadd) does not apply to either of them.

Ibn Tawus said that Tawus did not consider the prescribed punishment (hadd) binding for an ambiguous statement (ta'rid).

Mansur said that al-Hasan al-Basri said: The prescribed punishment (hadd) does not apply to this person until he says: O fornicator, O fornicating woman, or O son of a fornicating woman.

Shu'bah said that it is reported from Hammad concerning a person who said to someone: The prescribed punishment for fornication will fall on your back. He said: If he wishes, he may say: I only said: Your back is a place for the prescribed punishment to fall. He said: The prescribed punishment does not apply to him.

Awf said that al-Hasan al-Basri said: The prescribed punishment for false accusation (hadd al-qadhf) applies only in the case of a clear accusation.