Is the legal standard for witnessing adultery the same when witnesses testify to the act occurring in two different, distant corners of the same house as it is for two different houses?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Ḥudūd (Prescribed Penalties)

Book 51 · Issue 1 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

When two witnesses testify that adultery occurred in one corner of a house, and two other witnesses testify it occurred in another, distant corner of the same house, the ruling is identical to the case of two separate houses. However, if the two corners were close to each other, the testimony is deemed complete, and the prescribed punishment (Hadd) is applied to the accused. This view is held by Abu Hanifa. The justification is that if the locations are close, it remains possible that the act commenced in one corner and was completed in the other, or that each pair of witnesses attributed the act to the corner nearest to them, thus validating their combined testimony as if they had agreed on one spot. This differs from distant locations where it is impossible for the witnessed act to be a single instance.

Supporting text

Al-Shafi'i holds that the Hadd is not applied because the testimony is incomplete due to the discrepancy in location, similar to a disagreement over two separate houses. Abu Bakr holds that the testimony is complete whether the corners are near or far apart.