the defendant has been given an opportunity to challenge it. As for a witness known to have a disqualifying defect, his testimony is inadmissible unless his repentance from the defect for which he was known is established, whether the judge knew of that defect himself or it was established before him.

As for a witness whose standing is unknown, judgment on his testimony is suspended until inquiries have been made concerning it. He is presumed neither disqualified nor upright. Some scholars, however, hold that he is presumed upright until a disqualifying defect becomes known, following the apparent meaning of the statement of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him:

“Muslims are upright witnesses concerning one another, except someone who has been flogged as a prescribed punishment or has been found to have given false testimony.”

This is the view of al-Hasan and the position of al-Layth ibn Sa‘d. According to them, no attestation of the witness’s uprightness is required. The judge merely says to the person against whom testimony has been given: “Go ahead and challenge the witness’s fitness, if you have grounds for rejecting the testimony given against you.” Ibn Habīb permitted the testimony of a witness whose standing is unknown, based on an assessment of his apparent character, concerning incidents among travellers during a journey, owing to necessity. He drew an analogy with the admissibility of children’s testimony concerning injuries occurring among them.

Some of our later scholars permitted the testimony of a witness whose standing is unknown in matters involving very small sums of money. All of this rests on juristic preference. Analogical reasoning, however, requires that no one’s testimony be admitted until his uprightness is known, because Allah, Mighty and Majestic is He, says:

“Those whom you approve as witnesses” [al-Baqarah: 282].

They have agreed that, in cases involving prescribed punishments and legal retribution, testimony is inadmissible until the witness’s uprightness is known. This settles the matters over which they disagree—Allah willing.

Section: The Ranks of Witnesses in Giving Testimony According to Mālik’s School

There are eleven ranks of witnesses in giving testimony. First comes a witness of outstanding uprightness who knows what makes testimony valid; then a witness of outstanding uprightness who does not know what makes testimony valid; then a witness known to be upright who does not know what makes testimony valid; then a witness known to be upright when he has accused someone of unchastity but has not yet received the prescribed punishment; then a witness who appears to be upright; then a witness who appears neither upright nor to have a disqualifying defect; then a witness