The ruling on testifying to what the witness does not know
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: I was in one of the courts at a private job, and while I was sitting, a person asked me to testify with him in the sale of a piece of land. I do not know him, and I do not know the land. Is there a sin on me for that, or is my work valid?
The Shaykh:
It is necessary for the witness that he knows what he is testifying to. One who bears testimony must know what he is testifying to. As for if you do not know what you are testifying to, it is not permissible for you[Az-Zukhruf 43:86] And in the hadith Bulugh al-Maram 1420 meaning like the sun. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. He says: I have a piece of land that remained with me.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, in the story of the sons of Ya'qub[Yusuf 12:81], it is not permissible for a person to testify to something he does not know. Yes.
He says: I was in one of the courts at a private job, and while I was sitting, a person asked me to testify with him in the sale of a piece of land. I do not know him, and I do not know the land. Is there a sin on me for that, or is my work valid?
The Shaykh:
It is necessary for the witness that he knows what he is testifying to. One who bears testimony must know what he is testifying to. As for if you do not know what you are testifying to, it is not permissible for you
but only those who testify to the truth [can benefit], and they know.
إِلَّا مَن شَهِدَ بِالْحَقِّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَGive witness in a similar case [which is as clear as the sun], or leave it.
على مثلها فاشهد أو دعThe presenter:
May Allah reward you. He says: I have a piece of land that remained with me.
The Shaykh:
Likewise, in the story of the sons of Ya'qub
and we did not testify except to what we knew
وَمَا شَهِدْنَا إِلَّا بِمَا عَلِمْنَا
Source
شرح كتاب الكبائر للإمام محمد بن عبد الوهاب، بداية من باب ما جاء في زعموا — islamhouse.com (1:10:06)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.