the testimony required for unlawful sexual intercourse, I do not think that unlawful sexual intercourse could ever be established by testimony. For when could a person testify that he saw a man’s penis inside a woman’s vagina?! This is why, when those who testified against a man for unlawful sexual intercourse during the caliphate of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, were asked, “Did you see his penis inside her vagina?” one of them replied, “Yes.” The man against whom they testified said, “By Allah, even if you had been between our thighs, you could not have given such testimony.” This is correct, because it is extremely difficult. Hence Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book al-Minhaj, in refutation of the Rawafid: “In Islam, unlawful sexual intercourse has never been established through testimony concerning the act itself; rather, it has only been established by confession. But for four men to come and testify that they saw his penis inside her vagina in a single act of unlawful sexual intercourse—this is exceedingly difficult.”

In any case, this restriction may contain an element of mercy: it safeguards people’s honour, so that no one will dare testify to unlawful sexual intercourse without this very high degree of certainty.

Can an act be described through gestures or images? As for description by gestures, suppose someone were to depict theft: he closes the door, stands there, and then says, “I saw him do this”; then he opens the door, enters, takes the dirhams, closes the door, and leaves without speaking. We say: if he is mute, then gestures may perhaps suffice, as will come, if Allah wills. But if he is not mute, we say: Speak; you must state it explicitly. Likewise, if he were to describe it by means of images, can testimony be given through images? In some countries this may be possible, but it would be moving images that reproduce the act, such as video. About seven years ago, someone told me that a device had been invented which, if directed at the scene of an incident before ten minutes had elapsed, would record what occurred. So if they came—