False testimony

Priority: c, Quality: c
From wikishia

False testimony (Arabic: شهادة الزور) is one of the great sins, referring to when a person gives false testimony. Jurists consider it forbidden by referring to verses and hadiths, and according to their opinion, if the testimony is proved to be false through confession, testimony or knowledge of the judge, the false witness will be punished. If before the execution of the judge’s verdict, it is found that the testimony for it was false, the verdict will be annulled, but if it is proven after the execution of the verdict, those who gave false testimony must compensate for the damages (such as money, blood money, or retribution) to the defendant (the person who the verdict is against him).

Significance

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460/1067) stated in the book al-Mabsut that false testimony is considered among great sins.[1] It is also said that after belief in polytheism, there is no sin greater than false testimony.[2] In Imamiyya jurisprudence, there is a chapter titled as "al-Shahadat" (testimonies), in which false testimony has been discussed.[3]

Muhammad Muhammadi IshtIhardi (d. 2006), a Shi'a clergy and writer, considered mentioning false testimony and idolatry beside each other in the Qur'an[4] as an evidence of the ugliness of false testimony. Avoiding false testimony is also mentioned in the Qur'an as one of the characteristics of the top servants of God.[5]

Definition

False testimony means that one deliberately gives testimony about what he or she does not know, or what he gives testimony about is false.[6] Some jurists believe that false testimony is considered a crime and can be prosecuted to the authorities at the court.[7]

Reasons for prohibition of false testimony

False testimony is considered forbidden in Shi'a jurisprudence and for its prohibition, they refer [8]to the verse "…avoid false speech"[9]. Imam Khomeini and Sayyid Ali Khamene'i believe that this verse refers to the prohibition of false speech, which includes lying, false testimony, and Ghina'.[10]

Some exegetes of the Qur’an have also inferred prohibition of false testimony[11] from the verse "those who do not give false testimony" [12]. Sayyid Husayn Burujirdi, a Shi'a marja', based on a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) which says, "before a lying witness steps out of his place, the fire of Hell becomes enforced upon him" [13]has argued for prohibition of false testimony.[14] Al-Allama al-Hilli argued with another hadith of Imam al-Baqir (a) which says, "there is no man who wants to take a Muslim man’s property and falsely testifies against him, except that God writes Hell for him instead of that testimony."[15]

Rulings

False testimony is one of the sins for which no prescribed punishment has been set by religion, but ta'zir (punishment and flogging of the criminal to a lesser extent than prescribed punishment)[16] has been considered and Imamiyya and Sunni jurists agree on this issue, but they differ regarding its details: Shi'a jurists do not disagree on ta’zir along with tashhir (turning the person around in public and making him known among people)[17] as al-Shaykh al-Tusi has clarified this issue.[18] But, this issue has been disputed among Sunni jurists.[19]

Methods of proving

False testimony can be proven in several ways:

  • Testimony of others: People testify against the truthfulness of the testimony of the primary witnesses.[21]
  • Knowledge of the judge: Sometimes, the judge finds out through different ways that the given testimony is a lie.[22] According to Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad (b. 1945), the knowledge of the judge is superior to other evidences in this regard.[23]

Jurisprudential and legal consequences

Different consequences have been mentioned for false testimony:

Cancellation of the issued verdict

According to the al-Shahid al-Awwal (d. 786/1348) in the book al-Durus, if the falsehood of the witnesses’ testimony is proven before the execution of the verdict, the judge’s verdict will be overturned.[24]

Compensation and retribution

If the falehood of the testimony is proven after the execution of the verdict, the witnesses are liable for the money that the defendant (the person against whom the verdict is issued) has paid[25], and if the defendant has been sentenced to blood money or retribution and the sentence has been executed, the witnesses will be sentenced to payment of blood money or retribution;[26] because, in such cases, sabab [the indirect cause] (the main factor) is stronger than mubashir [the agent] (the one who executed the verdict).[27]

Imprisonment and financial penalty

Some jurists have given a fatwa to imprison a false witness, by referring to the conduct of Imam 'Ali (a) during his rule.[28] According to article 650 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, anyone who gives false testimony in court, before official authorities, will be sentenced to prison and a fine.[29] This punishment is different from the punishment mentioned for false testimony with regards to prescribed punishments, retribution and blood money.[30]

Non-acceptance of later testimonies

According to the fatwa of Shi'a jurists, the later testimonies of those who have given false testimony in court will not be accepted, unless they repent and their justice is proved.[31]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 8, p. 164.
  2. ↑ Māzandarānī, Sharḥ uṣūl kāfī, vol. 9, p. 264; Ibn al-Barrāj, al-Muhadhdhab, vol. 2, p. 562.
  3. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 252.
  4. ↑ Qur'an 22:30.
  5. ↑ Muḥammadī Ishtihārdī, Wīzhagī-hā-yi ʿIbād al-Raḥmān parhīz-i shadīd az guwāhī-yi durūgh wa shirkat dar majālis-i gunāh, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Māzandarānī, Sharḥ uṣūl kāfī, vol. 9, p. 264; Murtāḍī and others, Barrasī-yi maʿnāshinākhtī-yi shahādat-i zūr wa ḍarūrat-i muʿarrifī-yi ʿumūmī-yi ān dar fiqh-i madhāhib-i khamsa, p. 125.
  7. ↑ Shāmlū Aḥmadī, Farhang-i iṣṭilāhāt wa ʿanāwīn-i jazāyī, p. 287; Muʿāwinat-i Riyāsat-i Jumhūrī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī, p. 161, article, 650.
  8. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 8, p. 164.
  9. ↑ Qur'an 22:30.
  10. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, al-Makāsib al-muḥarrama, vol. 1, p. 344; Khāmeneʾī, Ghināʾ wa mūsīqī, p. 38.
  11. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 315.
  12. ↑ Qur'an 25:72.
  13. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 383.
  14. ↑ Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ aḥādīth al-Shīʿa, vol. 30, p. 328.
  15. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 3, p. 61; Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām, vol. 5, p. 297, 298.
  16. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 4, p. 562.
  17. ↑ Shāhrūdī, Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt, vol. 1, p. 508.
  18. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Khilāf, vol. 6, p. 240.
  19. ↑ Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 16, p. 145.
  20. ↑ Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Hidāyat al-umma ʾilā ahkām al-aʾimma, vol. 8, p. 426; Ḥalabī, al-Kāfī fī al-fiqh, p. 440; Muʿāwinat-i Riyāsat-i Jumhūrī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī, p. 55, article. 191, 195, 196.
  21. ↑ Mūsawī Gulpāyigānī, Kitāb al-shahādāt, p. 448-449; Ḥalabī, al-Kāfī fī al-fiqh, p. 440; Muʿāwinat-i Riyāsat-i Jumhūrī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī, p. 55, article. 191, 195, 196.
  22. ↑ Ḥalabī, al-Kāfī fī al-fiqh, p. 440; Dayyāniī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī-yi muʿrab, p. 88, article. 160, 211.
  23. ↑ Muḥaqqiq Dāmād, Qawāʿid-i fiqh (Bakhsh-i qaḍāyī ), p. 48.
  24. ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Durūs al-sharʿīyya, vol. 2, p. 143.
  25. ↑ Marʿashī Shūshtarī, Dīdgāh-hā-yi nū dar ḥuqūq, vol. 1, p. 122.
  26. ↑ Bujnūrdī, "Qawāʿid fiqhiyya", vol. 1, p. 18; Khoeī, Mabānī-yi Takmila al-Minhāj, vol. 41, p. 191.
  27. ↑ Marʿashī Shūshtarī, Dīdgāh-hā-yi nū dar ḥuqūq, vol. 1, p. 122.
  28. ↑ Hāshimī Shāhrūdī, Mawsūʿa al-fiqh al-islāmī al-muqārin, vol. 5, p. 295.
  29. ↑ Muʿāwinat-i Riyāsat-i Jumhūrī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī, p. 161.
  30. ↑ Muʿāwinat-i Riyāsat-i Jumhūrī, Qānūn-i Mujāzāt-i Islāmī, p. 161.
  31. ↑ Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa (al-qaḍāʾ wa al-shahādāt), p. 598, 612.

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