1. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad ibn Mahbub from ibn Ri’ab from Sulayman ibn Khalid who said the following: “This is concerning my question before Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.), about the case of a man who had a certain amount of my property with him. He played arrogantly with me about it and swore to deny it. Thereafter a certain amount of his property came into my control. Can I take his property in place of my property with him, deny the existence of his property with me, and swear just as he did against me?" He (the Imam) said, "If he betrayed you, you must not betray him and must not enter into something for which you blamed him.”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from and Muhammad ibn ‘Isma’il has narrated from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from Ibn Abi ‘Umayr from Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid from Mu‘awiyah ibn ‘Ammar who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who owes to me a right but he denies it and then leaves in my trust a certain amount of his property: if I can offset my rights with him from his property with me. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, you cannot do so because it is treachery’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Mahbub Sayf ibn ‘Amirah from abu Bakr al-Hadramiy who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who has a certain amount of property with another person who denies the existence of such thing with him and goes away with it. Later a certain amount of the property of this person comes in the control of the first one; Can he offset his property for what has come in his control? He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, he can do so but he must say the following: “O Lord, I take this property in place of my property which he has taken from me and I do not take it with treacherous intention and injustice.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.