Will you give detailed information about the testimony of women according to madhhabs?

Dear Brother / Sister,

TESTIMONY OF WOMEN AND MEN ACCORDING TO MADHHABS

The Number of Witnesses in Issues That Men Can Also Know

Allah Almighty states the following:

“... And get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses...” (al-Baqara, 2/282).

It is in question in civil rights, whether the right is related to property or something else, such as marriage, divorce, iddah, transfer, foundation, peace, testament, grant, confession, release of debt, birth and lineage. Those rights become definite with the testimony of two men or one man and two women. The acceptance of a woman’s testimony related to those issues is due to the fact that the woman has the necessary qualifications for testimony. They are witnessing, remembering and expressing.

The reason why two women are considered like a man in witnessing is the deficiency in the person due to forgetting a lot. As a matter of fact, Almighty Allah states the following: “... if one of them errs, the other can remind her...” (al-Baqara, 2/282) (1)

Shafiis, Malikis and Hanbalis state the following:

The testimony of women is accepted together with men only in issues such as property and its sale, leasing, grants, testaments, pledges and sureties because what is essential in women is the predominance of emotionality, the inability to fully determine the affairs and the defects in the custody of the goods; therefore, their testimonies are not accepted.

Marriage, return to marriage, divorce, power of proxy, intentional killing, hadd penalties except fornication, which are issues that are not financial, that are not intended for property, and that men can know, become definite only by two male witnesses. Allah Almighty states the following about rij’ah (return of the husband who divorced his wife with revocable divorce):

“Take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice.” (at-Talaq, 65/2).

On the other hand, Ibn Masud narrates that the Prophet (pbuh) said,

“There can be no marriage without a guardian and two witnesses endued with justice.” (2).

The following was narrated from Zuhri: “At the time of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and the two caliphs after him, the sunnah took place in the form of not accepting the testimony of women in hadds and lawsuits related to blood.” (3)

Shafiis state the following: Nass (verses of the Quran and hadiths) is evidence that this is the case regarding return to marriage, marriage and hadds. We compare all the other issues that are not intended for property and that men can know to them with analogy. (4)

Regarding the hadd for fornication, scholars agree unanimously that the punishment will not be definite with less than four free and Muslim male witnesses because Allah Almighty states the following:

“Why did they not bring four witnesses to prove it? When they have not brought the witnesses, such men, in the sight of Allah, (stand forth) themselves as liars.” (an-Nur, 24/13);

“If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify.” (an-Nisa, 4/15);

“…and (they) produce not four witnesses...” (an-Nur, 24/4).

It is certain that the Prophet (pbuh) said:

“Either you bring four witnesses or your back will be flogged.” (5)

In other hadd punishments and qisas, the majority of the scholars agreed that they would be determined by the testimony of two men because Almighty Allah states the following “... And get two witnesses, out of your own men...” (al-Baqara, 2/282) The testimony of women related to those issues is not accepted together with a man or alone.

Zahiris state the following:

If there is more than one woman, the testimony of women together with a man is accepted in hadd penalties. Acting with the apparent meaning of the following verse necessitates it:

“... and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses...” (al-Baqara, 2/282).

The number of witnesses related to issues that only women can know:

The testimony of women is accepted in related to issues that only women can know because it is narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) accepted the testimony of a midwife. (6) On the other hand, Abdurrazzaq narrates in his Musannaf that az-Zuhri said: “Sunnah has taken place as follows: in cases such as the birth of women and their private states, about which only women can know, it is permissible for women to testify.” (7)

There are different opinions about the determination of those states.

Hanafis state the following: Women’s testimony is accepted about birth, virginity and the private states of women about which men cannot know. However, the testimony of women alone about breastfeeding is not accepted because it is possible for men, who are mahrams of the breastfeeding woman, to be aware of it.

According to Abu Hanifa, the testimony of women about the crying of a baby during birth is not accepted for inheritance because the cry of a baby during birth is one of the things that men can know. Therefore, the testimony of women alone cannot be evidence in this regard. However, their testimony that janazah prayer was performed for a baby that was born and died is accepted because prayer is one of the issues related to religion, and their testimony on this issue is regarded as evidence just like the witnessing of the crescent moon of Ramadan.

On the other hand, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad state the following: The testimonies of women about the crying of the baby during birth are accepted even for inheritance because during the birth, men are not generally there and they do to hear the baby crying. Therefore, it is like the witnessing of the women themselves about the birth. That is the view that the author of Fathul-Qadir deems more preferable.

Maliki, Shafiis and Hanbalis state the following: The testimony of women alone is accepted in cases such as virginity, widowhood, menstruation, sucking milk, the crying of a baby during birth, which are generally not witnessed by men. The testimony of women alone is also accepted about the disorders of women under their clothes, such as wounds, stenosis, bone-like protrusions and vitiligo, and the end of iddah. Their evidence regarding the issue is the statement of Zuhri we have mentioned before. The things that are not mentioned in it are compared to the issues that can be considered as a common measure, such as the aforementioned birth and the disorders of women.

There are different views about the number of witnesses necessary related to the testimony of women alone. While Hanafis and Hanbalis say that the testimony of one woman endued with justice is accepted (8), Malikis say that two women are enough. However, Shafiis say that fewer than four women is not enough because Almighty Allah has rendered two women equal to one man in terms of witnessing. He also states that there must be two male witnesses. (9)

For further information, please click on the link given below;

Can you explain the issue of equating two women to one man in witnessing? Is the witnessing of a woman alone not accepted?

Footnotes:

1. Fathul-Qadir, VI/7; al-Badayi’, VI/277; al-Kilai ma’al-Lubab, IV/55 ff.
2. Bayhaqi, Ibn Hibban and Tabarani (in al-Awsat) reported the hadith from Imran b. Husayn, Hz. Aisha, Jabir and others. Suyuti mentions that it is regarded as sound. al-Jamiu’s-Saghir, J/204; Nasbur-Raya, 111/167; Majmauz-Zawaid, IV/286.
3. Ibn Abu Shayba reported it in his book Musannaf from az-Zuhri. Abdurrazzaq reports it from Hz. Ali as follows: “The testimony of women in penalties and issues related to shedding blood is not permissible.” Nasbur-Raya, IV/79.
4. al-Muhadhdhab, 11/333; Bidayatul-Mujtahid, 11/454; al-Mughni, IX/149 ff.; at-Turuqul-Hukmiyya 152 ff.
5. Abu Yala al-Mawsili narrated it in his Musnad from Anas b. Malik. Bukhari narrated it from Ibn Abbas with the following words: “You will either bring evidence or I will have your back flogged.” Nasbur-Raya. IU7306.
6. Daraqutni narrated it in his Sunan from Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman. There is someone unknown in the chain of narrators. Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat. Al-Haythami said, “There is a narrator I do not know in the chain of narrators.” The following is stated in at-Tanqih: “It is a fabricated hadith.” Nasbur-Raya, IV/80; Majmauz-Zawaid, IV/201.
7. Ibn Abu Shayba also narrated it. Nasbar-Raya, IV/80.
8- The Prophet (pbuh) accepted the testimony of a midwife. Daraqutni narrated it from Hudhayfa. According to Abul-Khattab’s narration from Ibn Umar, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “The testimony of only one woman is enough related to sucking milk.” Ahmad and Tabarani (in al-Kabir) narrates the following from Ibn Umar: “Ibn Umar or a man asked the Prophet (pbuh), “What is the nature of the testimony that is permissible related to sucking milk?” The Prophet (pbuh) answered as follows: “One man or one woman.” The following is stated in another narration: “One man and one woman. “There is a weak narrator in the chain of narrators. However, there is another narration supporting the view that the testimony of only one woman will be accepted related to a breastfeeding woman. Subulus-Salam, 111/318; Majmauz-Zawaid, 10/201.
9. For all the issues that are mentioned, see al-Mabsut, XVI/112; Fathul-Qadir, VI/6 ff.; al-Badayi’ VI/277, 279; ad-Durrul-Mukhtar, IV/386 ff.; al-Lubab, IV/55 ff.; Bidayatul-Mujtahid, 11/45: ff.; ash-Sharhul-Kabir, IV/185; al-Muhadhdhab, 11/332 wd.; Mughnil-Muhtaj, IV/441 ff.; al-Mughni IX/147 ff.; 155; al-Muhalla, IX/483; at-Turuqul-Hukmiyya, 129.

(see Wahba Zuhayli, İslam Fıkhı Ansiklopedisi, VIII/314-316)

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