What are the rules regarding a woman as the subject of testimony when she is absent?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Testimonies
Primary text
A woman is treated the same as a man; if her identity, name, and lineage are known, it is permissible to testify against her in her absence. If she is not known, testimony concerning her absence is impermissible. According to the transmission relied upon by the majority of scholars, testimony should only be given for someone one knows and against someone one knows. A man should only testify against a woman he knows. If a woman whose name is known has appeared and subsequently departed, testimony can be given after her reappearance, otherwise not. If the witness does not know her identity, testifying about her in her absence is not permissible.
Supporting text
Testimony concerning her physical person is permissible if the witness has seen her face and recognized her identity. Ahmad stated that a man should not testify against a woman until he has seen her face. This ruling is interpreted to apply when the witness has not established certainty of her identity. If certainty of her identity is established, perhaps through recognition by her voice when that recognition is definitive, testimony is permissible in her absence, as established in the previous ruling. If the party being testified against is not known to the witness, but is identified by someone the witness knows, there is a narration from Ahmad stating that one should not testify based on the testimony of another person unless the subject of that testimony is known to the testifying party himself. Ahmad also stated that a man should not say to another man: 'I testify that this woman is so-and-so,' and then testify based on that statement. This indicates an explicit prohibition against testifying based on the identification provided by another person. The Qadi suggested this might be for the purpose of recommendation (*istihbab*), given that testimony based on widespread knowledge (*istifadah*) is permissible. However, the apparent meaning of Ahmad's statement is prohibition.