and likewise in al-Iqnaʿ and al-Muntahā in this case.

His statement, “a trustworthy woman”: this is the position adopted by the author, and it is the established position of the school: in matters which, in most cases, are witnessed only by women, the testimony of one woman is sufficient. Childbirth is generally witnessed only by women, so the testimony of one woman suffices regarding it. The basis for this is the account of the woman who testified that she had breastfed a man and his wife, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to separate from her and said, “How can you remain with her when it has been said?!” (1) The jurists inferred from this that, in every matter which is generally witnessed only by women, the testimony of one trustworthy woman is sufficient, because the Prophet ﷺ accepted the testimony of that woman, though she was only one.

Yet there is some reservation regarding this, because applying this ruling indiscriminately to every matter may be open to question. Thus, we say: whatever the Sacred Law has specified as being established by one woman’s testimony—such as breastfeeding—may be established by one woman’s testimony; but other matters are not to be analogized to breastfeeding, for greater precaution is observed in the matter of breastfeeding, unlike other matters. If matters witnessed only by men require two male witnesses, or one man and two women, then what of matters witnessed only by women?! Therefore, the second view in this issue is that only the testimony of two women is accepted that the child was born upon his bed. If they testify that it was born upon his bed, its lineage is attributed to him.

His statement, “And when it is completed”: the pronoun refers to liʿān. Once it is completed through the five preceding testimonies, a number of matters follow from it: