Chapter on Testimony

Testimony (shahadah) is the primary mechanism by which rights are established and disputes resolved in Islamic law. The rules governing who may testify, how many witnesses are required for various matters, and what renders testimony inadmissible are developed with great precision in the Maliki school. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani presents these rules as a guide for the judge and the community.

The conditions for a valid witness in the Maliki school are: Islam (a non-Muslim may not testify against a Muslim, though there are narrow exceptions in Maliki fiqh for non-Muslims testifying in matters between non-Muslims), legal majority (bulugh), sanity, freedom from enmity toward the person against whom one testifies, freedom from any personal interest in the outcome of the case, and 'adalah — moral uprightness. 'Adalah means that the witness is a person who observes the obligatory duties of Islam, avoids major sins, and does not habitually engage in minor ones. A known sinner (fasiq) may not testify.

The number of witnesses required varies by the nature of the case. For hadd penalties — particularly zina — four witnesses are required. For most other civil and criminal matters, two adult Muslim male witnesses of 'adalah suffice. The Maliki school also accepts the testimony of one man and two women (as provided in the Quran for financial transactions: al-Baqarah 282) in matters of commerce, debts, and civil transactions, reflecting the Quranic instruction. For matters that women alone typically witness — such as birth, breastfeeding, or defects of the female body — the Maliki school accepts the testimony of women alone.

The Maliki school permits the combination of one witness and the plaintiff's oath (yamin) to establish a financial claim — this is the ruling in Maliki fiqh known as 'testimony of one plus oath' (shahid wa-yamin). This makes the Maliki school more accessible in civil financial litigation, where obtaining two full witnesses may be difficult.

Testimony must be direct — the witness must have personally perceived what he is testifying to through his own senses (hearing, seeing). Testimonial hearsay (shahdat al-sama') is accepted in the Maliki school for matters where direct perception is impossible or very difficult, such as the lineage of a person, the known reputation of a person's character, or historical facts. These are narrow exceptions to the direct-witness rule.

A witness who knowingly gives false testimony (shahadat al-zur) commits one of the gravest sins in Islam. The Maliki school subjects the false witness to ta'zir discretionary punishment by the judge, and his testimony is permanently rejected thereafter unless he sincerely repents. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ranked false witness among the three major sins he warned against most emphatically, alongside shirk and disobedience to parents.