What types of individuals are disqualified from giving testimony due to religious or moral failings?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Testimonies
Primary text
The testimony of one who consumes usury (Riba), one who disobeys his parents, or one who severs kinship is invalid. Testimony is not accepted from one who neglects paying Zakat on his wealth. Similarly, someone who appropriates public land, such as placing structures in the path of Muslims, invalidates their own testimony and that of their heir until restitution is made. One who engages in extreme lying is disqualified, based on the Hadith stating that the testimony of a liar is rejected. Further disqualifications include the testimony of a traitor, a fornicator, one who has been flogged in a Hadd punishment, one holding malice due to enmity, one who severs ties with his kin, one previously convicted of bearing false witness, or one who is stingy concerning loyalty or kinship. Abu Dawud's narration adds that the testimony of a fornicator (male or female) and one holding malice is rejected.
Supporting text
Regarding chivalry (Muru'ah), it requires avoiding base, degrading matters, which fall into two categories: actions and professions. Actions include setting up a dining area in the marketplace to eat publicly, exposing parts of the body usually covered, stretching out legs in public gatherings, mocking people for laughter, using obscene language with one's wife or slave girl in public, or discussing marital intimacy with others. Such behavior results in the rejection of testimony due to perceived baseness and lack of self-respect. A person who shames himself by insulting an animal is also disqualified until repentance, supported by the saying: 'If you have no shame, then do as you wish.'