Abu Bakr said that there should be either two males or one...

Abu Bakr said that there should be either two males or one male and two female witnesses.[^9] Now in family matters- and gift of a father to his daughter is a family matter - only one witness is enough; but Abu Bakr conveniently forgot it. Also Islam accepts one witness coupled with the oath of the claimant as a sufficient proof.[^10] Fatimah was obliged to bring other witnesses, among them her two sons, Hasan and Husain and one woman, Asma' d/o 'Umais (wife of Abu Bakr himself).

Now there were more witnesses than the minimum required. So Abu Bakr started discrediting all the witnesses:- A) 'Ali, Hasan and Husain were Fatimah's husband and sons, and they were liable to be moved by self-interest.

📌Remember that Fatimah, 'Ali, Hasan and Husain were the only ones who were selected by the Prophet to prove his truth against the Christians of Najran - who were to say ''Amen'' to the prayer of the prophet seeking curse of Allah "against the liars:' They were the only people alive at that time who were purified by Allah from all sins and mistakes. And there is not a single Muslim in the world who can say that they could tell lies.

But Abu Bakr rejected their evidence explicitly saying that their evidence was motivated by self-interest - in other words, they were lying!! B) Asma' d/o 'Umais was previously married to Ja'far, brother of 'Ali; and therefore, she would support the claim of Banu Hashim. He forgot that she was his wife and therefore her evidence against his views was more telling.

And, by the way, is it necessary that a witness should not be a friend of the party for whom he is appearing - that only the evidence given by an enemy should be accepted? C) Umm Ayman was a non-Arab and she could not speak Arabic fluently. (Umm Ayman was a slave-girl of 'Abdullah, father of the Prophet. The Prophet had inherited her, married her to Zaid b.

Haritha and, according to the Prophet she was one of "the people of virtue': "people of Paradise':) Does it mean that only Arabic-speaking people can be accepted as witness? Or only Arabs are truthful and trustworthy? This ruthlessness of the Khalifa prevented others to come forward and give evidence on behalf of Fatimah.

When the Khalifa had no hesitation in degrading and insulting 'Ali and his sons, how could they be sure that their honour would not be tarnished if they appeared to support Fatimah? The purpose of witness is to establish veracity or otherwise of a claim.

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