If someone has kept a record of testimony concerning a man’s minor children and then, when the time comes, gives testimony about both the older and the younger among them, his testimony is admissible.

Mālik is unanimously cited as holding that a guardian’s testimony in favor of the person under his charge is not valid. A woman’s testimony for her husband, and his for her, is likewise inadmissible, for each of them would bring advantage to the other. Each is, however, permitted to testify against the other.

The testimony of an upright brother on behalf of his brother is accepted and acted upon unless grounds for suspicion also exist. Mālik deems the brother suspect when he testifies for his sibling in matters of lineage, when he is wholly dependent on him and receives benefit from him, or when he seeks to avert the prescribed penalty for slander from him—for example, by testifying that the person his brother reviled is a slave.

The testimony of an indulgent close friend on behalf of his friend, when that friend stands to gain some favor from him, is not admissible. Ibn Wahb reports from Mālik that the testimony of a son on behalf of the person who supports him is invalid whenever he is dependent on him and benefits from him; the same ruling applies to a brother for his brother. Likewise, the testimony of an enemy against his enemy is not accepted, whether their estrangement is open or concealed. The testimony of a slave is inadmissible with regard to property, prescribed punishments, or anything else.

Whoever gives testimony that benefits himself along with someone else has his testimony rejected for both parties, for if part of a testimony is invalidated, the whole of it is invalidated. According to them, this is the soundest opinion—Allah knows best.

Mālik offered three opinions concerning a man who testifies about a will in which something has been bequeathed to him:

1. All of his testimony is void, whether or not others testify with him;
2. All of his testimony is accepted if the share bequeathed to him is small;
3. His testimony is accepted with respect to the others but invalid regarding his own portion.

The last view, Allah knows best, carries substantial weight on rational grounds.

A guardian’s testimony about a deceased person is admissible so long as it involves no benefit accruing to the guardian himself, and an upright witness, if he does not