Evaluations on the Reflections of Women's and Men's Witnessing on Islamic Law

Abstract

In Islamic law, women's witnessing, comparing to men's, is thought to be doubtful. Therefore, witnessing of two women is considered an acceptable complete witness, which is assumed to have been supported by various comments, ayahs and hadiths In criminal law cases, unacceptability of women's witnessing is based on the notion that their witnessing is not free from the doubt no matter how many women are involved in, and that it has been the general practice according to narrations since the early age. Today, scholars who re-interpret the relevant ayahs and narrations about women's witnessing in the light of sociology and literal meaning have an agreement on the new regulations which are different from those early scholars agreed on. They claim that the mentioned code of practice generally accepted in Islamic Law is a matter of interpretation to its full extent.