Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (15/413)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

Section

The conditions for a person’s testimony to be accepted are six: maturity; thus, the testimony of children is not accepted, …

His statement, “The conditions for a person’s testimony to be accepted are six”: In the first section, the author mentioned the conditions relating to testimony in terms of receiving it and delivering it: when one may testify, and what is required for testimony. This section, however, concerns the conditions of the person whose testimony is accepted. Testimony necessarily has essential elements: a witness, the matter testified to, the person in whose favor testimony is given, and the person against whom it is given. Here, we discuss the conditions of the witness.

His statement, “Maturity”: This is the first condition, but it is a condition for giving testimony, not for receiving it. Thus, if a person received the testimony while still a child and gave it after reaching maturity, his testimony is accepted—just as the narration of a child is accepted if he received it while young and transmitted it after reaching maturity. Mahmud ibn al-Rabi‘, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I remember the Prophet ﷺ spraying a mouthful of water into my face when I was five years old.” (1) Thus, maturity is a condition for giving testimony. This is why he said:

“The testimony of children is not accepted,” meaning when they give it. So, if a thirteen-year-old child testifies against another child that he did such-and-such, the testimony is not accepted, even in places that children alone generally witness, such as marketplaces and children’s playgrounds. If one child comes—or even if ten children come—and says, “We testify that this child is the one who injured this child: he threw a stone at him until he was wounded,” we do not accept it. Or if all the children come to testify, fifty children in number, and forty-eight children testify that

(1) Narrated by al-Bukhari in Kitab al-Ilm (The Book of Knowledge), chapter: “When a Child’s Hearing Is Valid” (77); and by Muslim in Kitab al-Masajid wa Mawadi al-Salah (The Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer), chapter: “Concessions for Missing the Congregational Prayer Due to an Excuse” (265 [33]). The wording is that of al-Bukhari.

فَصْلٌ وشُرُوطُ مَنْ تُقْبَلُ شَهَادَتُهُ سِتَّةٌ: البُلُوغُ، فَلَا تُقْبَلُ شَهَادَةُ الصِّبْيَانِ، ...... قوله: «وشروط من تقبل شهادتُهُ ستة» الفصل الأول ذكر فيه المؤلف شروط الشهادة تحملاً، وأداء، ومتى يشهد؟ وماذا يعتبر للشهادة؟ أما هذا الفصل ففي شروط من تقبل شهادته؛ وذلك أن الشهادة لا بد فيها من أركان: شاهد، ومشهود به، ومشهود له، ومشهود عليه، وهنا نذكر شروط الشاهد: قوله: «البلوغ» هذا الشرط الأول، لكنه شرط للأداء لا للتحمل، فلو تحمل وهو صغير وأدى وهو كبير قبلت شهادته، كما تقبل رواية الصغير إذا تحمل وهو صغير وأداها بعد البلوغ، قال محمود بن الربيع ﵁: «عقلت مجة مجها النبي ﷺ في وجهي، وأنا ابن خمس سنين» (١)، فالبلوغ شرط للأداء، ولهذا قال: «فلا تقبل شهادة الصبيان» يعني إذا أدَّوْها، فلو شهد صبي له ثلاث عشرة سنة على صبي آخر أنه فعل كذا وكذا، فالشهادة لا تقبل حتى في المكان الذي لا يطلع عليه إلا الصبيان غالباً، مثل الأسواق، وملاعب الصبيان، فلو جاء صبيّ، بل لو جاء عشرة صبيان، وقالوا: نشهد أن هذا الصبي هو الذي جرح هذا الصبي، رماه بحصاة حتى انجرح، فلا نقبل، أو جاء كل الصبيان يشهدون وهم خمسون صبياً فشهد ثمانية وأربعون صبياً على أن

(١) أخرجه البخاري في العلم/ باب متى يصح سماع الصغير (٧٧)، ومسلم في المساجد ومواضع الصلاة/ باب الرخص في التخلف عن الجماعة بعذر (٢٦٥) (٣٣) واللفظ للبخاري.