Women in Islam : Testimony ( Part 5 )

“Why Islam considers women's testimony to be half of one man’s testimony?”

This is the main example of the inequality in Islam as claimed by Skeptics. Moreover, they also accuse this religion reject women as the witness in criminal case.

To answer this allegation, it is important to stress that the main objectives of Islam are to promote well-being for human and repel harm from them. The clearest example would be on how Islamic laws such as in murdered, adultery, accusation for adultery, robbery and theft that lie in safeguarding people faith, their human self (din), their human self (nafs), their intellect (aql), their posterity (nasl) and their wealth (mal). As the punishment are very harsh Islamic, the way to prove the culprit also strict in order to avoid mistakes in jurist process.

Thus, in testimony, the main condition for a witness is their trustworthy. It is clearly mentioned in chapter Al-Hujurat as follows:-

“O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.” ( Al-Hujurat : 6 )

As for female witness in criminal cases, even the majority of Muslim classical scholars view that their testimony are not accepted, but there are a few of them like Az-zohiri against it as there are no clear supported  versus in Quran and Hadith. It means it still opened for discussion.

On the other hand, when majority of them refuse to accept woman as the witness, it not because of discrimination, but in order to protect women and others. In fact, the nature of women, they are more influenced by their emotion. For example, most of the women are closing her eyes or running away in panic when they are seeing the bloodshed or crimes. Thus, it is difficult for them to give a reliable account of the crime.

In addition, they also not reject women's testimony totally but their statement have to be investigated and strengthened with other evidences. If the testament is strong, then there is no reason for a jurist to acquit the real culprit.

Regarding for financial matters, it is true one of the versus in Al-Baqarah show the status of women witness as follows:-

(O ye who believe! When ye deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing. Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as Allah Has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear His Lord, Allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If they party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable Himself to dictate, let his guardian dictate faithfully, 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, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her.) (Al-Baqarah 2:282)

However, the reason to make the testimony of a man equal to the testimony of two women due to women nature and their circumstance instead of their integrity. For example, most of the women focus on motherhood or the household. As the result, they are no experience in handling these matters since financial issue are difficult to understand. Thus, Allah commands creditors if they want to verify the value of debt to seek the testimony of two men or one man and two women. The Qur'an puts it unambiguously:

(so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her.) (Al-Baqarah 2:282)

But having said that, the financial cases are not too strict as criminal cases as Islam also accept one witness coupled with oath and also the witness of non-Muslim. Thus, this versus not means women’s testimony is rejected totally.