Studies in Comparative Fiqh

(RKFQ 7230A)

Book Review on:

Principles of Evidence in Islam by Prof. Dr. Anwarullah

Prepared by:
Khaleeda binti Zahri (G1922286)

Lecturer:
Asst. Prof. Dr. Akhtarzaite binti Haji Abdul Aziz

Semester 2 2020/2021
The book that I chose is a book written by Anwarullah, entitled ‘Principles of Evidence in

Islam’.1 The author was known to be originated from Islamabad, Pakistan, but later on in his

life, Anwarullah has been engaged by Brunei to be appointed as the Islamic legal specialist at

the Brunei Ministry of Religious Affairs. Anwarullah has extensive experience in legislative

and judicial work on Islamic law as well as being a prolific author on his expertise. He had

produced numerous works which some of his prominent books were “Islamic Law of

Evidence”, “Criminal Law of Islam” and “Some Aspects of Islamic Economic System”. It was

also known that the author had served and assisted both Government of Pakistan and

Government of Brunei Darussalam ‘in the enactment and implementation of Islamic laws and

the establishment and reorganization of Sharia courts for more than 26 years.’2 Therefore,

during his service, he also had amended the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code in

order to ensure that the entire Laws of Brunei is aligned with the principle of Sharia.

The book ‘Principle of Evidence in Islam’ has shown Anwarullah’s vast knowledge on

Sharia law. In this book, he had divided the chapter into seven chapters. However, the profound

message of this book is how the author had given a thorough explanation on the six sources of

evidence in the Islamic law through these seven chapters. The six sources – as mentioned in

the book – are testimony or shahadah, admission and confession or iqrar, circumstantial

evidence or qarain, evidence by experts, oath and also knowledge of the Qazi. By providing

the explanation of these contents through the opinions of the Muslim scholars and jurists, the

author as well made a vivid distinction between of what stands by Islamic law and common

law. In the introduction of the book, Anwarullah also pointed out the importance of utilizing

1. Anwarullah, Principles of Evidence in Islam (Kuala Lumpur: A.S. Noordeen, 2010).

2. Nabil Daraina Badaruddin, “Challenges to Legal Education in a Changing Landscape – Brunei,” (paper
presented at the Eighth ASEAN Law Association General Assembly, Tweddle Litho, Singapore, 2003), 95,
http://php.diw.go.th/idas/facesheet/201509111352459.pdf.

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the valuable works of Islamic jurists. Hence, according to him, it is crucial for the modern

books of Islamic law to be improvised and rearranged in order to be useful for the present day

requirements. In a point, Anwarullah made an attempt to arrange the information on law

according to its specific fields or cases as a means to systemize the pattern of the knowledge.

In the first chapter, the author dedicated it to explain on testimony or shahadah. He had

first explained on the basic information of testimony such as the meaning, the conditions for a

witness and the numbers required. This chapter displays profound discussions of the Muslim

scholars and jurists. Such could be seen via the explanation on the sanity and puberty as one of

the conditions of the witness. According to Anwarullah, Prophet Muhammad mentioned three

exempted people from every kind of obligation and liability: a minor until he becomes an adult,

an insane until he attains sanity and a sleeping person until he awakes. From this base, one

could see the dissenting opinions between the jurists. For instance, according to Imam Ahmad,

in the cases of assault, the testimony of minors is accepted if it is prior to the completion of the

crime. Meanwhile, Imam Malik accepted the testimony of the adolescents in homicide cases if

they are rational and no other witnesses presented. Other than the basic information on

testimony that has been provided by Anwarullah, specific issues of testimony such as

examination of witness and false testimony were also mentioned.

As attested by the author, al-Quran has mentioned on the importance of examination of

witness. However, the dissenting opinion is whether it is compulsory in every case or not.

According to Imam Abu Hanifah, it is compulsory in hudud and qisas but to Imam Abu Yusuf,

Imam Muhammad and Imam Shafie, examination of witness is necessary in all cases unless if

the court is satisfied with the credibility of the witness. Regarding false testimony, Anwarullah

clearly stated that it is unaccepted in Islam through few Quranic verses and declared it as a

punishable offence in Islamic law. He also provided the opinion of Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam

Muhammad which stated that the person who commits it should be publicly exposed and

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sentenced to imprisonment. The explanation of the author is indeed detailed in every aspect of

testimony. One could see the method of Anwarullah in giving explanation of a certain issue

after he had mentioned it from the perspective of Quran and hadith only. Afterwards, he

continued by giving further explanation through the discussion of Muslim scholars and jurists

such as the four schools of Islamic law.

In the second chapter, Anwarullah explained on the second source of evidence in Islam

which is admission and confession or iqrar. According to him, Islam also stressed on the

importance of confession even if it is against oneself. Anwarullah gave a supporting point from

the story of a man who confessed himself committing zina to Prophet Muhammad and gave

four times of testimony against himself. The argument on this issue could be seen when it

comes to involuntary confession. The Islamic jurists have agreed that involuntary confession

or forced confession is invalid. This includes Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Hazm who strongly

disagree to involuntary confession (except for hudud). However, few later Hanafi jurists and

also Ibn al-Abidin opted the opposite, allowing beating of the accused in order for the man to

confess but only subjected to evil immoral man. The following argument is regarding the

indivisibility of admission where two different points could be observed. Hanafi and Maliki

schools were known to accept the division of admission howbeit few Islamic jurists such as

Ibn al-Qayyim disapproved it.

Anwarullah also provided an explicit explanation on other necessary issues of

confession such as its prior location and its taken amount. Imam Abu Hanifah declared the

invalidity of confession if it is outside of the court. However, Imam Malik, Imam Shafie and

Imam Ahmad considered extra-judicial confession valid if it is witnessed by two witnesses and

is applied to all cases except for Imam Ahmad, four witnesses are required for the cases of zina.

For the quantum of confession, Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Ahmad opined for four separate

confessions as four witnesses are necessary to attest the testimony. Anwarullah also provided

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the scholars’ base of opinion which is referring to the case of Maiz who confessed four times

to Prophet Muhammad. Meanwhile, Imam Malik and Imam Shafie opted for one confession

only in all cases including zina. Their view is based on the story of Unais who has been ordered

by Prophet Muhammad to go to the woman servant who has confessed in committing zina

without mentioning four times of confession. Although it is brief, it is surely adequate.

Anwarullah managed to explain the issues based on whether any dissenting opinions occurred

or not. He also included the base of every opinion of the scholars which were referring to either

Quranic verses or prophetic hadiths.

Next, is the chapter where it recorded the author’s explanation on the third source,

circumstantial evidence or qarain. Pertaining the matter, Anwarullah provided four

circumstances: in murder and hurt, in zina and rape, in theft and also in drinking wine.

Regarding murder and hurt, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad accepted presumptions however,

the jurists opined that ta’zir punishment could be given in this case on circumstantial evidence.

For the cases of zina and rape, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafie and Imam Ahmad were known

to disagree on the implementation of presumption on zina. Meanwhile, Imam Malik accepted

it. However for rape cases, evidence such as violence on the body, presence of semen or blood-

stains is accepted and sufficient. For the third circumstance, the jurists had a dispute on if the

belongings were found on a notorious person. According to Imam Malik, hadd will be

implemented but the jurists concurred that ta’zir punishment will be given. Lastly, in the cases

of drinking wine, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad agreed that hadd will be implemented if the

odour of the wine can be scented in one’s mouth or vomit. However, Imam Abu Hanifah opined

the opposite as mere odour if vomit is not a strong and definite presumption.

The fourth chapter represented the fourth source of evidence in Islam, the evidence by

experts. Experts’ opinion as explained by Anwarullah is to assist the court to determine a fact

in issue. He then gave a Quranic verse along with a hadith that mentioned on Mujazzaz al-

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Mudlaji as an expert of lineages which both of these primary sources supported the experts’

opinion. From the jurists, they concurred on the necessity of experts’ opinion to determine the

fact of an issue in a situation where the judge faced any difficulties. The fifth chapter is the

explanation on oath as the fifth source of evidence in Islam. The agreeable opinion is that oath

is accepted pertaining to the cases of rights and minor offenses liable to ta’zir and not hudud.

However, the issue is regarding if the defendant refused to take an oath. As the author stated,

Imam Shafie opined that the plaintiff will take the oath on the demand of the defendant.

Meanwhile, Imam Abu Hanifah opted that the judgment will based on the refusal of the

defendant to take an oath and the plaintiff will not be asked to do it.

The last source of evidence is in chapter six, knowledge of the Qazi (judge). Anwarullah

has divided the explanation into three views. The first one is according to Abu Bakar, Umar,

Ali, Ibn-al-Abbas, Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Awf, Muawiyyah, Imam Malik, Imam Shafie, Imam

Ahmad, Sha’bi, Bukhari, Ibn Qayyim and the later Hanafis, it creates a suspicion if the judge

is to render judgment based on his personal knowledge and to be considered as without

evidence. However to Zahiris, the judge is allowed to render judgements based on his personal

knowledge in all cases whether criminal or non-criminal matters. The last view is those jurists

who prohibited the judge from making decisions based on his personal knowledge only on the

cases of hudud. In additional information, Anwarullah mentioned that to Imam Shafie and

Imam Abu Hanifah, knowledge of Qazi is excluded on the matters of ta’zir and rights and not

on qisas and hudud. The last chapter of this book is dedicated by the author to include

miscellaneous issues such as written evidence and counter testimony.

This book of Anwarullah is undeniably a very good resource of Islamic law specifically

on the principles of evidence in Islam. Being mentioned above, this book is an attempt of the

author to sort the knowledge of Islamic law in a systematic way. As the author used simple

words yet complex sentences – perhaps due to the law terms and concepts – he managed to

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deliver the explanation adequately with the reference of Quran and hadith along with the

discussions of the jurists. Additionally, Anwarullah divided the explanation of the principles

into single chapters. He also provided reference at the back of each chapter, which displays his

emphasization on credibility. The method used by Anwarullah in his explanation concurrently

shows his aim of being a prolific author. His aim is clearly for the sake of benefitting the

knowledge and not to create a dispute among the Muslims be with the difference of the jurists

and scholars. At the same time, it shows that dissenting opinions of the scholars and jurists are

far away of creating a division but shows how Muslims can benefit from it. Also, he never

write in a way of biased or critically commenting on opinions that perhaps dissatisfied him. In

fact, he sought to reach the truth only. Reading the content of the book, it certainly shows the

vast knowledge of Anwarullah in Islamic law and surely a valuable reference for students,

teachers, and even those who are related in law and court field.