Abstract: In Muslim legal literature, marriage contracts may be dissolved if one of the partners is afflicted with a disability representing a critical defect. The same also applies to the sale of slaves. Establishing the defect often requires an examination of the body by an expert. To avoid any abuses, mālikite jurists set out the conditions under which this examination must take place in an attempt to reconcile the burden of proof with the need to preserve the intimacy of the body.
