What did the Shaykh of Islam mean by his statement that widespread report is sufficient to guard against a man’s testimony and his trustworthiness?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The Shaykh, may Allah bless me, there is no response from the Shaykh of Islam to his statement, but rather a complete widespread report of that. Yes.
The Shaykh : Widespread report means that even if you did not witness it with your own eyes, if it becomes widespread among the people that this man is a man of open sinfulness, that is sufficient for you to speak ill of him. Meaning, it is not said, “Do you testify?” He says, “No, I do not testify, but it has become widespread among the people.”
The questioner : Meaning, by Rashid Dawud.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is apparent to the people that this man is an open sinner.
The Shaykh : Widespread report means that even if you did not witness it with your own eyes, if it becomes widespread among the people that this man is a man of open sinfulness, that is sufficient for you to speak ill of him. Meaning, it is not said, “Do you testify?” He says, “No, I do not testify, but it has become widespread among the people.”
The questioner : Meaning, by Rashid Dawud.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is apparent to the people that this man is an open sinner.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 533- ما مراد شيخ الإسلام بقوله: إن الاستفاضة كافية في الحذر من شهادة الرجل وأمانته؟ - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.