Testimony (chahada)

The legality of testimony

Testimony is lawful by the Quran: "take two witnesses from among your men" (sura al-Baqara 282), "make two just witnesses from among you testify" (sura at-Talaq 2). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"Shall I inform you of the best of witnesses? The one who brings his testimony before being asked for it."Muslim 1719

The conditions of the witness

• Equity: consensus of the scholars, by the cited verses and by "if a sinner brings you information, verify" (sura al-Hujurat 6). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The testimony of the treacherous man, the treacherous woman or the man given to low pleasures is not admissible against his brother" (Abu Dawud 3601 ; Ibn Majah 2366). Equity is defined: performing the obligations, avoiding the major sins and persistence in minor ones, fleeing baseness (four schools). Sin removes the capacity: a major sin without repentance, or persistence in a minor sin; Malikis and Hanbalis also refuse the innovating witness. Ibn al-Qayyim admits, by necessity, the testimony of protected people among themselves over their testament while travelling, like the judgment rendered between the two Jews.
• Freedom: the slave does not testify, agreement of the schools.
• Alertness and memory: text of the four schools: the distracted and the forgetful do not testify, for trust is lacking; Malikis admit the testimony of the distracted when the fact allows no confusion: "I saw this one kill that one", "I heard this one repudiate his wife".
• Speech: the majority (Hanafis, Shafi'is in the safest view, Hanbalis) refuse the testimony of the mute even if his sign is understood; testimony requires certainty, and the sign does not reach it.

The number of witnesses according to the rights

• Two men: all the legal punishments except that of the illicit relation, and retaliation (agreement of the four schools; Ibn al-Mundhir: consensus for two witnesses in murder; al-Hasan al-Basri alone required four everywhere, a weak view).
• One man and two women: debts and property (agreement; sura al-Baqara 282). In theft: the property is established by one man and two women, the hand is cut only by two men.
• Women alone: what men usually do not see: birth, menstruation, virginity, women's defects (agreement; ash-Shafi'i: birth and women's defects, no known disagreement).
• Suckling: established by testimony, the number divides: Abu Hanifa and Ahmad: one equitable woman suffices; Malik and Ahmad (one narration): one man and two women; ash-Shafi'i: four women.
• Marriage and divorce: Hanafis: one man and two women suffice; Umar admitted it for marriage and separation without known contradiction; Ahmad (one narration) admits it for marriage and resumption.
• The punishments: women do not testify in the punishments nor retaliation (agreement of the four schools; az-Zuhri: the Sunna of the Prophet and the two califs established it).
• The illicit relation: four equitable male witnesses, no fewer (consensus reported by an-Nawawi and Ibn Qudama; sura an-Nur 4). Fewer than four: testimony rejected, and they all undergo the punishment of false testimony if the accused requests it (the majority of the schools).
• One witness with the oath: Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis: every right established by one witness and two women is established by one witness and the claimant's oath; this applies to property only, not to the punishments, marriage, divorce, theft or the false oath.

Practical note

Before testifying, ask three things: did I see or know it first-hand? am I free of any interest? do I remember without confusion? The best witness remains the one who testifies uninvited, out of loyalty to the right.