Is the admission concerning property made by a legally incompetent person (safeeh) accepted?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Legal Interdiction
Primary text
The admission concerning property made by a legally incompetent person (*safeeh*), such as an admission of debt, an admission obligating a penalty for accidental injury or quasi-intentional injury, destruction of property, or usurpation, is not accepted. This is because the person is legally restrained (*mahjur*) for their own welfare, so their admission regarding property is invalid, just like that of a minor or an insane person. Accepting such an admission would nullify the purpose of the restraint, as they would be disposing of their property through admission, allowing the claimant to take it. Furthermore, the admission concerns matters forbidden for them to dispose of, rendering it ineffective, similar to a mortgagor admitting against the pledged property or an insolvent person admitting regarding assets.
Supporting text
The apparent view among our scholars and the view of Abu Thawr is that what the incompetent person admits to becomes obligatory upon him after the restraint is lifted. This is reasoned by analogy to a slave admitting a debt or a debtor admitting against collateral; since the admission was made while under restraint, it becomes binding later when the restraint is removed. An alternative view, attributed to Al-Shafi'i, holds that the admission is never valid and cannot be enforced even after the restraint is lifted, because the restraint due to lack of maturity prevents any ruling from his admission from being established later, similar to a minor or an insane person.