What is the ruling of Imam Malik regarding the distribution of the fifty oaths when multiple parties are accused?
Chapter on Qasamah (Oaths regarding murder)
Al-Mughni
Book of Blood-Money (Diyyāt)
Primary text
Imam Malik states that fifty men among the accused must swear fifty oaths. If the number of accused individuals is less than fifty, the obligation is redistributed among those who swear until fifty oaths are completed. If only one person accused is found, that person swears fifty oaths alone, based on the Prophet's statement, "So your Jews will absolve you with fifty oaths." The basis for this view is that each oath absolves the individual from the killing, so each must swear fifty, as if each was accused individually for a single slain person. Furthermore, what absolves the accused when they are jointly accused must be what absolves them when they are accused individually, and because what each swears pertains to clearing himself, unlike the claimants whose oaths are regarding a single matter.
Supporting text
The opposing view holds that each individual must swear fifty oaths because each oath is intended to absolve the individual, just as if each was accused separately for one victim. Also, what absolves an accused party in joint accusation must be what absolves him when accused alone. Moreover, each individual swears to something different from his companion, unlike the claimants whose oaths concern one thing.