The Ruling on Testimony for One Who Is Not Aware of It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. I know a person who has a clear right, and I have given testimony that establishes his right, but he is not aware of my testimony. Should I inform him of it? And would I be included among those who testify but are not called to testify?
The Shaykh:
I have previously explained to you in the commentary on the hadith that if a right is about to be lost and you have testimony, you testify so that the right is not lost. This is among the best of witnesses. The best of witnesses are those who testify before they are called to testify. This applies when the claimant does not know that you have testimony, and if you were to withhold it, his right would be lost. Your testifying in this case preserves rights, so it is encouraged for one who has testimony, and if withholding it would cause a right to be lost, it is obligatory for him to testify so that the right is not lost, and he must not conceal the testimony.
I say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. I know a person who has a clear right, and I have given testimony that establishes his right, but he is not aware of my testimony. Should I inform him of it? And would I be included among those who testify but are not called to testify?
The Shaykh:
I have previously explained to you in the commentary on the hadith that if a right is about to be lost and you have testimony, you testify so that the right is not lost. This is among the best of witnesses. The best of witnesses are those who testify before they are called to testify. This applies when the claimant does not know that you have testimony, and if you were to withhold it, his right would be lost. Your testifying in this case preserves rights, so it is encouraged for one who has testimony, and if withholding it would cause a right to be lost, it is obligatory for him to testify so that the right is not lost, and he must not conceal the testimony.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في كثرة الحلف — islamhouse.com (1:06:41)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.