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Background: Some think that a male witness is equivalent to two female witnesses in all cases, due to misusing one verse and applying it to all situations, irrespective of context.
This is only true for financial/business transactions:
O you who acknowledge, if you borrow debt for a
specified period, then you shall record it. Let a scribe of justice
record it for you. No scribe should refuse to record as God has taught
him. Let him record and let the person who is borrowing dictate to him,
and let him be conscientious of God, and let him not reduce from it
anything. If the borrower is mentally incapable, weak or cannot dictate
himself, then let his guardian dictate with justice; and bring two
witnesses from amongst your men. If they are not two men, then a man
and two women from whom you will accept their testimony, so that if one
of them errs/forgets, then one can remind the other*. The witnesses should not decline if they are called,
and you should not fail to record it no matter how small or large
including the time of repayment. That is more just with God and better
for the testimony, and better that you do not have doubts; except if it
is a trade to be done on the spot between you, then there is no blame
on you if you do not record it. Have witnesses/evidence if you trade.
No scribe shall be harmed nor any witness; for if you do so then it is
vileness on your part. Be conscientious of God so that God teaches you;
and God is aware of all things. [2:282]
*note that it says if one errs/forgets then one can remind the other,
implying both females may not be needed to testify if one can remember
without problems. Secondly, there may be no need for witnesses to
testify at all if the written agreement is not disputed by either party.
The Quran
implies that the man has a wider duty of care than the female,
regarding maintenance of the family/household [2:228, 2:233, 4:34,
65:6], and since women
are biologically endowed with certain qualities such as pregnancy and
breastfeeding this naturally makes them more likely to raise children,
so generally speaking men are likely to have more experience in financial
transactions.
Another reason for this one-man
and two-woman witness arrangement could be the protection of women from
being subjected to high pressure by the party breaching the contract,
which is mentioned at the end of the above verse. The presence and
support of other women might reduce the pressure and possibility of
perjury. This case is also unique in the sense that it requires
witnesses to be chosen, which is different to being an accidental
witness to a crime for example.
For other situations, such as a sole accusation by the husband against his wife of infidelity a female's testimony is equal to and effectively cancels out a male's testimony [24:6-9].
Likewise, in other examples in which witnesses are required, no differentiation is made between males and females [4:15, 5:106, 65:2].
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