It is narrated from Ata' and Hammad that they said: The testimony of three men and two women is permissible, because one of the number of men has decreased, so two women stand in his place, as in financial matters. Our response is based on the apparent meaning of the verse, and the fact that the testimony of a slave regarding wealth is a matter of disagreement, which constitutes a doubt (shubha) in the hadd (prescribed) punishment; for [such punishments] are averted by doubts, and it is not valid to draw an analogy between this and financial matters, due to the lightness of their rulings, the extreme need for establishing them, the frequency of their occurrence, and the precaution taken in preserving them; for this reason, the number of witnesses for adultery was increased beyond the number of witnesses for financial matters.

Section: There are two narrations regarding confession to adultery, which Abu Bakr has mentioned. Al-Shafi'i has two opinions on it: one is that it is established by two witnesses, by analogy to all other confessions. The second is that it is not established except by four, because it necessitates the hadd punishment for adultery, thus it resembles the act itself.

1883 - Issue: He said: "And nothing is accepted in matters other than wealth, of those things which men are cognizant of, less than two men."

This category is of two types: First, punishments, which are the hadd penalties and retaliation (qisas). Testimony is not accepted therein except by two men, except for what is narrated from Ata' and Hammad, who said: A man and two women are accepted therein, by analogy to testimony in financial matters. Our response is that this is a matter for which precaution is taken to avert and dismiss it, which is why it is averted by doubts, and there is no pressing need to establish it. In the testimony of women, there is a doubt (shubha), evidenced by the saying of the Almighty: "...lest one of the two women errs and the other reminds her" (Qur'an 2:282), and that their testimony is not accepted even if they are numerous, unless there is a man with them; therefore, it is necessary that their testimony not be accepted in it. It is not valid to draw an analogy between this and wealth, due to the difference we have mentioned. This view, which we have stated, is the position of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, al-Sha'bi, al-Nakha'i, Hammad, al-Zuhri, Rabi'ah, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Abu 'Ubayd, Abu Thawr,