but not for a witness to vouch for the uprightness of his fellow witness. If, after the judge has issued a ruling on the basis of the secondary testimony, the original witnesses then say, “We never instructed them to testify to anything,” neither group bears any liability.

Section

Testimony is accepted only when the witness explicitly says, “I testify” or “I have testified.” It is not sufficient1 to say, “I am a witness,” “I do not know,”2 “I verify,”3 or “I testify only to what I have written with my own hand.” If, however, someone who has already been preceded by another in giving testimony adds, “To that I also testify,” or “I testify likewise,”4 his statement is valid.

If the witnesses in a case involving property or manumission retract their testimony after the judge has ruled, the judgment is not overturned, but they are held liable.5

When the judge discovers that a witness is a perjurer—either through the witness’s own confession or by definitive proof of his lying—he imposes on him a discretionary punishment (taʿzīr), even if the witness repents, in whatever manner the judge deems appropriate so long as no explicit textual evidence is contravened. The witness is also paraded through public places while it is proclaimed, “We have found him to be a false witness; avoid him.”