Is it permissible to testify about a testimony given by an original witness before a judge or concerning a legally specified debt?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Testimonies
Primary text
If one hears a witness testifying before a judge concerning a right, or hears him testify about a right while attributing it to its cause (e.g., 'I testify that so-and-so owes so-and-so a thousand from the price of a sale'), then testimony based on this is permissible, according to Al-Qadi and the position of Al-Shafi'i. This is because testifying before the judge and attributing the right to its cause removes ambiguity and resolves uncertainty, making testimony about that testimony permissible, similar to when the request for testimony is explicit.
Supporting text
A second narration holds that testifying about such a statement is not permissible. This is the view of Abu Hanifa and Abu 'Ubayd, because testifying about testimony is a form of deputyship, and one cannot act as a proxy without permission.