The Ruling on Relying on Photography to Prove Zina and Theft
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks: Does photographing crimes with cameras, such as zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) and theft, serve as a substitute for testimony in cases of zina and theft?
Answer:
No. It may be doctored. You know now about doctoring; they doctored images and they appear as if they are authentic, which is forgery. So this is not accepted. The hudud (fixed Qur'anic punishments) are based on averting doubts. Photography does not serve as a substitute for clear proof. It does not serve as a substitute for clear proof. Because you know that it is doctored now and becomes as if it were reality. Yes.
The questioner asks: Does photographing crimes with cameras, such as zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) and theft, serve as a substitute for testimony in cases of zina and theft?
Answer:
No. It may be doctored. You know now about doctoring; they doctored images and they appear as if they are authentic, which is forgery. So this is not accepted. The hudud (fixed Qur'anic punishments) are based on averting doubts. Photography does not serve as a substitute for clear proof. It does not serve as a substitute for clear proof. Because you know that it is doctored now and becomes as if it were reality. Yes.
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- شرح زاد المستقنع مع الأسئلة - 095-كتاب الحدود - القطع في حد السرقة وحد قطع الطريق - 12-2-2 — archive.org (1:10:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.