As far as “women’s testimony” is concerned, the eminent Muslim scholar, Dr. Su`aad Salih, professor of Fiqh at Al-Azhar Univ., states: “Testimony means giving information about a certain person. This involves two stages; bearing burden of testimony and giving that testimony. As far as bearing the burden of testimony is concerned, a woman can bear this responsibility in all spheres. In other words, a woman can be a witness to an incident or an action whatever it may be.
As for woman’s competence to give testimony, it depends on the nature of a given case. If the subject-matter relates to transactions, then for the testimony to be admissible, it must be given by two women in addition to one man. The is based on the Qur’anic verse: ‘And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not (at hand) then a man and two women, of such as you approve as witnesses, so that if the one errs (through forgetfulness), the other will remember.’ (Al-Baqarah: 282)
The significance of stipulating two women here in the above-mentioned verse, instead of one, is due to the nature of the case, which is somehow complicated and requires a certain kind of accuracy. Thus, for their testimony to be admissible, there must be two females so that if one of them forgets, the other can remind her. This is not the case for men. Should there be any loss of memory from one of them, the other cannot be a substitute; rather, the testimony will be straightaway rejected. This also shows the great respect Islam has for women.
In case of crimes like murder and adultery, Islam makes it clear that, in principle, a woman should be kept safe from all these fields that may hurt her feelings. However, if no other one is there to witness except a woman, her testimony may be accepted in such cases in order to preserve the course of justice. In issues relating to women affairs, women testimony is accepted even if it’s given by only one woman.”
As regards a non-Muslim’s testimony for or against a Muslim, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal allows this in case of traveling. Imam Malik and Imam Shafi`i, however, do not accept it at all. Imam Abu Hanifah adopts the view that a non-Muslim’s testimony for or against another non-Muslim is acceptable. As for Imam Ibn Taymiyah, he is of the view that Imam Ahmad’s acceptance of the testimony of a non-Muslim applies to all cases of necessity whether one is traveling or not.
Therefore, the testimony of a non-Muslim is admissible in case there is no Muslim. If the case at hand is witnessed by two non-Muslim males only, then their testimony is accepted.
Allah Almighty knows best