Dought&clear, - If a slanderer repents, can his testimony be accepted?

If a slanderer repents from his slander and mends his ways, can his
testimony be accepted or not?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Allaah has stipulated three punishments for slander. They are: the
hadd punishment; rejection of testimony; and describing the slanderer
as an evildoer (Faasiq).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses,
flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever.
They indeed are the Faasiqoon (liars, rebellious, disobedient to
Allaah).
5. Except those who repent thereafter and do righteous deeds; (for
such) verily, Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
[al-Noor 24:4-5].
With regard to the hadd punishment, the fuqaha' are unanimously agreed
that the hadd punishment for slander is eighty lashes if the slanderer
is a free person [i.e., not a slave], man or woman, because Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"flog them with eighty stripes"
[al-Noor 24:4].
As for his testimony not being accepted, the scholars are unanimously
agreed that the testimony of the slanderer should not be accepted so
long as he has not repented, because he has committed a major sin,
namely slander, and has not repented from it, so he cannot be
described as being of good character, and good character is a
condition of testimony being accepted; and because he is a liar and an
evildoer according to the text of the verse: "They indeed are the
Faasiqoon (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allaah)."
"Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they (the slanderers)
have not produced witnesses! Then with Allaah they are the liars"
[al-Noor 24:13].
The testimony of the evildoer and liar cannot be accepted, because
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):"And take as witness two
just persons from among you (Muslims)" [al-Talaaq 65:2]. So it is
stipulated that the witness should be of good character, and the
evildoer and liar are not of good character.
If he repents from slander and admits that he was lying, then the
majority of scholars (Maalik, al-Shaafa'i and Ahmad) are of the view
that his testimony may be accepted. They said:
1. Because repentance erases the sins that came before it, so if
he repents his sin and its effects are erased completely, and
non-acceptance of testimony is one of the effects of that sin.
Imam al-Shaafa'i said inal-Umm(7/94):
If he admits that he lied, his testimony may then be accepted, but if
he does not do that then his testimony cannot be accepted, until he
does that, because the sin for which his testimony is rejected is
slander, but if he admits that he was lying then he has repented. End
quote.
2. Because the expression "forever" in the verse applies so long
as he persists in evildoing. Hence after that the verse mentions after
the ruling that he is an evildoer: "and reject their testimony
forever. They indeed are the Faasiqoon (liars, rebellious, disobedient
to Allaah)." If the description of evildoer ceases to apply to him,
then the reason for rejecting his testimony also ceases to exist.
3. It was narrated from 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that he said to those who had slandered al-Mugheerah ibn Shu'bah,
after he had carried out the hadd punishment of flogging on them:
"Whoever repents, his testimony will be accepted." Narrated by
al-Bukhaari in a mu'allaq majzoom report.
His repentance means that he admits that he was lying about the
slandered person whom he accused of zina. Hence the words of 'Umar
according to Ibn Jareer were, "Whoever admits that he was lying, his
testimony will be accepted."
If the slanderer repents and mends his ways, his testimony will be
accepted, like any other Muslim of good character.
Al-Mughni(12/386);al-Majmoo'(22/98-101).
And Allaah knows best.

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