Chapter: Testimony Concerning Divorce

If two upright men hear a man pronounce divorce upon his wife, or set free his male or female slave, they are obliged to testify to that before the judge, even though the divorcer or emancipator did not himself call upon them to bear witness. Whether the woman or the slave claim the act or not is of no consequence, for the matter pertains to the rights of Allah Most High.

In other kinds of claims, they may not give what is merely “hearing testimony” until the right-holder himself asks them and seeks their evidence. Nor is secondary testimony based solely on hearing permissible until the original witnesses formally appoint the second pair to testify to their testimony.

Likewise, if a man hears another say, “So-and-so made me a witness to such-and-such,” it is not lawful for him to testify on that basis unless the speaker expressly designates him as a witness.

In matters of divorce, only the testimony of two upright men is admissible. The testimony of women is not accepted, nor is a single witness together with an oath, nor one man joined by two women. Nothing suffices except the testimony of two men who both attest to one and the same act of divorce.