Hadith No: 2
Ibn Hazm - al-Muhalla bil-Athar - Book of Hudud
Issue on the Discrepancy of Witnesses in Hudud
Volume: (12) - Page Number: (50)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... Abu Muhammad said: And something similar has been reported from the early generations, as Abd ibn Rabi' narrated to us, saying: Ibn Mufarij narrated to us, saying: Qasim ibn Asbaq narrated to us, saying: Ibn Wadhaḥ narrated to us, saying: Sahnun narrated to us, saying: Ibn Wahb narrated to me from al-Sari ibn Yahya, who said: al-Hasan al-Basri narrated to us,
saying: Al-Jarud testified against Qudamah ibn Muzdun that he drank wine - and Umar had appointed Qudamah over Bahrain - so Umar said to al-Jarud: Who will testify with you? He said: Alqamah the eunuch. So he called Alqamah and Umar said to him: What do you testify? Alqamah replied: Can the testimony of a eunuch be accepted? Umar said: What would prevent his testimony from being accepted if he is a Muslim?
Alqamah said: I saw him vomit wine into a basin. Umar said: Then, by your Lord, he would not have vomited it until he drank it. So he ordered that he be flogged with the prescribed punishment. This was Umar's ruling in the presence of the Companions (r), and no one among them is known to disagree with him in administering the hadd with two differing testimonies, one that he saw him drink wine and the other that he did not see him drink it, but saw him vomit it. And we used to witness them greatly esteem a disagreement with a Companion if it aligned with their tradition, yet here they have contradicted Umar ibn al-Khattab, al-Jarud, and all those present with them from the Companions. So there is no difficulty upon them, and Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.