Study of Concepts of " Condition of Belief in Testimony" in Imami Jurisprudence and in Iranian Law

One of the conditions mentioned in the Imami jurisprudence for the witness is “belief”. To fulfill needs of the time as well as (probably) to remove hardships relevant to the arguments posed to prove a case, the Civil Code of Iran has not considered “to be a Muslim” and “belief” as necessary conditions for the witness. After the victory of the Revolution, in the Article 115 of the Civil Procedure to which the rules of the Law of Civil Procedure have been referred, the legislator has not included the condition of “to be a Muslim” among conditions of witnesses. Mentioning the condition of “belief”, however, the legislator has tried to revive the tradition of the Imami jurists who did not accept the testimony of the disbeliever. To mention the condition of belief- of course as belief is interpreted by Imami jurists; according to them, only twelver Shi‘is are believers- will somehow weaken religious unity and, finally, it will disturb social unity. Nevertheless, it seems that the narrow interpretation posed by the well-known jurists may, on the basis of other standards and interpretations- be extended to cover the concept of “to be a Muslim”; for, there are considerable rational and transmitted arguments in this regard.