Non-Acceptance of the Testimony of Polytheists
By: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
Imām al-Shaʿbī (رحمه الله) said:
The testimony of people of different religions against one another is not valid, because Allāh says:
﴿فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ﴾ [al-Mā’idah: 14]
“We cast among them enmity and hatred.”
Abū Hurayrah (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“Do not affirm the People of the Book, nor deny them, but rather say:
﴿آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا﴾ [al-Baqarah: 136]
‘We believe in Allāh and in what has been revealed to us.’”
[al-Bukhārī, before ḥadīth no. 2685]
This shows that the testimony of mushrikīn and Ahl al-Kitāb against each other is not accepted in Islamic judicial principles, as their inherent hostility and enmity compromise justice.