Does the oath fall on the creditor or on the debtor?

Question

Question: A creditor (da’in) makes a claim for a debt, and the debtor (madyun) claims payment (isal) or release from the debt (ibra’); the debtor has no witness. Which of the two is the claimant (mudda‘i), and on whom should the oath be imposed? In Nur al-Hidaya, the Urdu translation of Sharh al-Wiqaya, in the chapter on claims (da‘wa), it is written that the oath is on the creditor when the debtor has no witnesses.

Answer

There is a disagreement on this question: according to some, the creditor is the claimant, and according to others, the debtor has become the claimant, while the creditor, owing to his denial of the payment and the release, has become the defendant.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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