- Book of Testimony
Testimony is a religious obligation: once the claimant summons them, the witnesses must deliver it and may not lawfully conceal it.
In ḥadd cases the witness may choose either to conceal what he knows or to disclose it, and concealment is preferable—except in theft involving property, where he must testify to the taking and say, “He took it,” not, “He stole.”
Testimony is of different ranks:
• In cases of zinā (illicit sexual intercourse) four male witnesses are required; women’s testimony is not accepted.
• For the remaining ḥadd offences and for qiṣāṣ (retaliatory punishment) the testimony of two men suffices; women’s testimony is not accepted.
• For all other rights the testimony of two men, or of two men and two women, is admissible—whether the right concerns property or something else, such as marriage, divorce, agency, or bequests.
In matters such as childbirth, proof of virginity, and hidden bodily defects that men cannot examine, the testimony of a single woman is accepted.
In every instance probity (ʿadālah) is indispensable.
As for the verbal formula, if the witness does not say, “I testify,” but instead says, “I know,” or “I am certain,” his testimony is rejected.
Abū Ḥanīfah said: The judge relies on the outward appearance of a Muslim’s integrity, except in ḥadd and qiṣāṣ cases, where he must inquire about the witnesses; and if the opposing party challenges them, he likewise investigates them. Abū Yūsuf said