BIRTH, Evidence of. According to the Imam Abu Hinifah, if a married woman should claim to be the mother of a child, her claim is not to be valid unless the birth of the child is attested by the testimony of one woman. But in the case of a father, as much as the claim of parentage is a matter which relates purely to himself, his testimony alone is to be accepted.
The testimony of the midwife alone is sufficient with respect to birth but with regard to parentage, it is established hy the fact of the mother of the child being the wife of the husband.
If the woman be in her ‘iddah [‘IDDAH] from a complete divorce, the testimony of the midwife is not sulficient with respect to birth, but the evidence of two men, or of one man and two women, is requisite. (Hamilton’s Hidayah, vol. iii. p.134.)
It is also ruled that it is not lawful for a person to give evidence to anything which he has not seen, except in the case of birth, death, and marriage. (Vol. ii. 676.)
The testimony of the midwife alone is sufficient with respect to birth but with regard to parentage, it is established hy the fact of the mother of the child being the wife of the husband.
If the woman be in her ‘iddah [‘IDDAH] from a complete divorce, the testimony of the midwife is not sulficient with respect to birth, but the evidence of two men, or of one man and two women, is requisite. (Hamilton’s Hidayah, vol. iii. p.134.)
It is also ruled that it is not lawful for a person to give evidence to anything which he has not seen, except in the case of birth, death, and marriage. (Vol. ii. 676.)
Based on Hughes, Dictionary of Islam
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