If zina is proven by an image and four people saw it, is it considered testimony and is the hadd applied?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : If a man photographed a man, meaning with a woman... clearly in the image, is one image sufficient, or are four images required?
The Shaykh : Four photographers?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what do you say?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is deception possible in this case, or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If deception is possible, it is not accepted. Otherwise, initially, we say that this image is as if the judge is seeing them, but it is said that deception is possible. As long as this possibility exists, it is not considered testimony.
The questioner : And if deception is not possible?
The Shaykh : If it is not possible, we do not assume what is possible, nor what is probable. Those who know these matters say it is possible. Initially, I actually thought in my mind that this would be accepted if they brought the image, but people told me that this does not work; they must gather things and photograph them.
The Shaykh : Four photographers?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what do you say?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is deception possible in this case, or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : If deception is possible, it is not accepted. Otherwise, initially, we say that this image is as if the judge is seeing them, but it is said that deception is possible. As long as this possibility exists, it is not considered testimony.
The questioner : And if deception is not possible?
The Shaykh : If it is not possible, we do not assume what is possible, nor what is probable. Those who know these matters say it is possible. Initially, I actually thought in my mind that this would be accepted if they brought the image, but people told me that this does not work; they must gather things and photograph them.