Claim before the judge (legal sense of da'wa)

In technical usage a claim (da'wa) is a statement by which a person seeks to establish a right against another before a judge or an arbiter. The jurists of the majority count four pillars: the claimant, the defendant, the thing claimed, and the statement itself. Claims differ in soundness and in the kind of thing claimed, and a valid claim must meet conditions on the statement, the parties and the subject. ^{1 2 3}

Linguistically the word is a noun of the verb to claim, with senses of request, supplication and assertion. It is not applied to a statement backed by proof and demonstration: such a statement is true and its maker is right, not a claimant. ¹

A claim differs from judgment (which decides the claim), from arbitration (a contract resting on the agreement of both parties, which creates a special authority for the arbiter), and from a legal opinion (which asks only for the ruling, with no opponent). ^{1 6}

A claim is a statement made before a court. It is forbidden when it is false and the claimant knows or strongly suspects this, and permitted when the claimant believes he is right, unless it is brought to harm another. ⁶

The burden of proof lies on the claimant; the defendant is held to his denial, sworn if the claimant has no proof. Jurists differ in how to tell them apart. Majority Maliki and Shafi'i opinions look at which side is backed by a presumption, custom or circumstance; the Hanafi and many others ask who is compelled to pursue the matter if he drops it. ^{2 7 8}

Claims are classed as sound, defective (fasida, mainly in the Hanafi usage, or naqisa in the Shafi'i usage), void, and claims whose hearing is barred by lapse of time or by ruling. They are also classed by subject: claims of criminal charge, claims of a specific thing (property or land), claims of debt, and claims of pure legal right such as lineage, marriage, custody or pre-emption. ^{3 9 10 11 12 13}

The statement must not contradict an earlier statement of the same claimant, must be firm rather than tentative (except in criminal accusations), and the claimant must be a party with standing. The subject must be known, must be possible to prove, and must bind the defendant if proved. Juristic opinions differ on each of these points, and the encyclopedia records the variants. ^{14 15 16 17 18 19 20}

A sound claim requires the judge to hear it, the opponent to attend, and an answer. The answer may admit, deny, or raise a defence. A defendant who keeps silent without reason is treated as one who denies. ^{4 21 22 23 24}

A claim usually ends with a judgment that settles it. It may also end when the claimant drops it or when the purpose is gone. ^{5 25}