Female witnesses in Islam

[Haarith]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
ASALATU WASALAMU ALAYKA YA RASULLALLAH Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam

Most respected Imam I make dua you are well.
I have 3 main questions regarding women-witnesses in Islam:

[1] Why are 2 female witnesses equal to 1 male witness? For example: looking for the new moon. I can understand there are biological differences between men and women thus making one excell the other in certain aspects of life. But why doesn't the witnessing of them not count as heavy? Why was this rule applied at that time and how practical is it nowadays?

[2] Why must women bring forth 6 [male] witnesses [if I'm correct; anyway at least more than men] in a judicial case, whereas men only have to bring forth only 4 [male] witnesses? In what context was this ruling applied then, and how practical is it now? What is the current ruling?

[3] Are female witnesses allowed in a judicial case [for example a rape case]?

JazakAllahu khayr.
Wassalamu 'alaykum

[Imam]

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Wa'alaykum 'Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu


All Praise be to Allah who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam

Woman has times in a life which a man does not. This includes the monthly period cycle which lasts for about 10 days maximum. During this period it is when the women is feeling weaker than normal, sometimes feeling depressed, sometimes feeling tired and lethargic. This causes an immense pressure on the womans mind, and Islam has taken this into account, when it comes to witnessing the sighting of the moon for Eid, or Ramadhan, or in cases of fornication where witnesses are required, and/or in marriage cases.

Not all testifications are true, this is the reason why when a man swears on an oath, he maybe given the Qur'an to swear upon, as is the case in modern countries today. However, this is impossible for a woman as the Qur'an has stated:

'La yamassuhu illal mutahharun'

'Non shall touch the Qur'an, except those who are clean/pure.'

This is a good enough reason for a woman, not to testify when she comes into the court of a qadi or a judge, and is asked to swear upon the Qur'an, that she saw such and such, commit such and such an act, as the Qur'an has already stipulated, that it is forbidden for a woman to touch the Qur'an, let alone swear upon it, in such cases.

This rule is also appliccable today, where a woman is freed from reciting the Qur'an whilst touching it, by praying the salah, and even as is the case to give testimony. For if she did, there would have to be another woman with her to testify, so that the testimony could be made complete, by having two female witnesses equivelant of having a one man witness.

Allah the Almighty states in the Qur'an:

'Fa illam yakun rajulayni fa rajuluw wamra'atani'

'If two men cannot be found, then one man and two women may witness.'

(Qur'an, Baqarah, 282).

It is also related by Hadrat Abu Sa'id Khudri Radi Allahu anhu that the Messenger of Allah Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said:

'Is the womans testimony not the half of the mans testimony? We replied 'why not?' He Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam stated that this is because of the fault (nuqs) in their understanding'.

(Muslim, Kitab-ash-Shahadat, Babu Shahadatin nisa'i)

The above 2 rules are the major factors that prevent women having equal testimony to men, in many cases. However they may tesify with men in cases of marriage, divorce, freedom, and lineage, as opposed to Imam Malik and Imam Shafi'i Radi Allahu anhum, who do not allow them to testify.

In addition, women have a lone testimony in cases of birth, noise at birth, faults in women, and in all those issues where women are concerned, but not the men, then their testimony alone suffices.

As mentioned above, women are not brought forward to testify for all judicial cases, as these vary according to the circumstances of each case. It is particularly worth noting that women are only used as witnesses, when no men are found, and the number of witnesses applied also varies according to each case. For example, for rape there are four witnesses, for theft there are three, for the citation of the moon there are three etc. and this list extends from one place to another, and is a seperate subject in itself.

It is valid for a woman to become a witness in a rape case, where there are no men witnesses, or there are men witnesses, but not enough. It may be that the court requires the witnesses in order to charge the defendant of the guilt which he has confessed to.




Jazak'allah for your question.





Wallahu A'lamu Biththawaab


M. Waseem Ashrafi