Testimony About One’s Own Statement or Action: Shar‘i Legitimacy and Differences
✍ Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
❀ Ruling on Giving Testimony Regarding One’s Own Statement or Action
The testimony of a person regarding his own statement or action is permissible, provided that there is no suspicion of self-interest involved.
◈ Points of Discussion
➊ Firstly, there is no prohibition of this matter in Sharīʿah.
➋ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) accepted the testimony of a woman who had breastfed, and based on that, gave a ruling of prohibition. As narrated in the Hadith, Hazrat ʿUqbah bin Ḥārith (رضي الله عنه) said:
"I married a woman, then a woman came and said:
إني قد أرضعتكما
‘I have breastfed both of you.’
I then asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he commanded me to separate from that woman (my wife)."
[Bukhārī: 2660, Kitāb al-Shahādāt, Bāb Shahādat al-Murḍiʿah]
◈ The Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ Qawl)
The stronger opinion appears to be that the stance of the author (matn) is not correct, because in this Hadith the woman merely gave an informative report (khabar), not a formal testimony. Making this a general principle and declaring it permissible in all cases cannot be justified.
This is because the Qur’an explicitly commands:
"Appoint two just witnesses."
Furthermore, no such ruling has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) or from the noble Companions (رضي الله عنهم).
