The Case of One who Testifies, then Retracts it

“About the case of witnesses who testify against a man, then retract their testimony when judgment is already issued against the man, they are held responsible for what they have testified to and to compensate, but if judgment is not yet issued, their testimony is made void and the witnesses are not held responsible for anything.’”

“About the case of a man who testifies falsely and upon his repenting, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘He must pay for the assets that are gone due to his false testimony, like one-half or one-third if another one has testified with him.’”

“About the case of false testimony abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If the asset exists in its substance, it must be returned to its owner, but if it does not exist, then he is responsible for an amount equal to what is lost from the assets of the man.’”

“This is about the case of four men who testify against al-Muhsin (married male) to have committed fornication; then one of them retracts his testimony after the man is executed. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If the fourth cites doubt, he is subjected to penalty, but if he says it was intentional then he is put to death.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of four witnesses who testify against a man to have committed fornication and when he is executed, one of them retracts his testimony. He (the Imam) said, ‘The fourth one among them is executed and the other three must pay three-fourth of wergild to his family of the fourth witness.’”

“About the case of false testimony abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If the asset exists, it must be returned to the owner, otherwise, equal to what of the assets of the man is lost must be paid to him.’”

“About the case of two witnesses who testify for a woman that her husband has divorced her and she marries; but her husband comes and denies the divorce, he (the Imam) has said, ‘The two must be subjected to penalty and held responsible for the mahr (dower) in favor of the husband; then she is returned to the first husband.’”

“This is about the case of a man against whom two men had testified for theft, thus his hand was cut off and thereafter the two witnesses brought another man saying that this was the thief and not the one whose hand was cut off but we were only confused about it. Abu Ja’far (a.s.), has said that ’ Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali, Alayhi al-Salam, issued a judgment. It required the two to pay one-half of the wergild and did not accept their testimony against the other man.’”