that they are knowledgeable of what they have testified to, and are certain of it, and that they do not know of any contradiction to what they testified to up until the time they established the testimony before me. I have therefore executed what was established before me of that, and I have ruled according to its necessity upon the request of one whose request is permissible, and I was asked by one whose request is permissible, and whom the purified Sharia has allowed to be answered by writing this to the judges and magistrates, so I have answered him regarding his petition, as it is permissible for him under the Sharia. I have proceeded with this letter, so it was written, and with the attachment of the record document referred to, so it was attached. Whoever among them comes across it, considers what I have mentioned, examines what I have inscribed, and relies in its implementation upon working in accordance with what the purified Sharia necessitates, will attain the greatest reward. Written from the guarded council of judgment, from such-and-such a place, at such-and-such a time. It is not a condition that the judge mentions his name in the address, nor that the name of the one to whom the letter is addressed be mentioned in its interior. This is the view of al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifa said: If he does not mention his name, it is not accepted, because the letter is not [addressed] to him, and mentioning his name in the address is not sufficient without its interior, because that was not done by way of addressing him. Our view is that the reliance therein is upon the testimony of the two witnesses regarding the judge who wrote it as a judgment, and that does not detract from it. Even if the letter were lost or erased, their testimony would be heard and [the matter] would be judged by it.

1875 - Issue; He said: (And the letter is not accepted except with the testimony of two upright witnesses who say: "He read it to us, or it was read to him in our presence, and he said: Bear witness that this is my letter to so-and-so.")

The sum of it is that three conditions are stipulated for the acceptance of a judge's letter; the first is that two upright witnesses testify to it. The knowledge of the one to whom the letter is addressed regarding the writer's handwriting and seal is not sufficient, nor is it permissible for him to accept it based on that, according to the opinion of the imams of fatwa. It was narrated from al-Hasan, Sawwar, and al-'Anbari that they said: If he recognizes his handwriting and seal, he may accept it. This is the view of Abu Thawr and al-Istakhri, and a similar view may be derived for us based on his view regarding a testament if it is found in his handwriting; because that results in overwhelming probability, so it resembles the testimony of