English translation
2651. Narrated Zahdam bin Mudarrib: I heard 'Imran bin Huṣain رضي الله عنهم saying, "The Prophet ﷺ said, 'The best amongst you people are those living in my century (generation), then those coming after them, but his (future) witness will be accepted." Ath-Thaurī said, "If a slave is scoured (for falsely accusing others of illegal sexual intercourse) and later on he is manumitted, then his (future) witness is to be accepted. If somebody who has received such punishment is made a judge, his decisions will be valid." Some people said, "The witness of a false-accuser is not to be accepted even if he repented." They added: "The marriage is not legal unless it is witnessed by two witnesses; it is permissible that the two witnesses can be those who have received such punishments, but the slaves are not to be accepted as witnesses to marriage." He accepts the witness of the person who has received the punishment (for falsely accusing others of illegal sexual intercourse) and the witness of a male slave and a female slave concerning the appearance of the new moon (i.e., crescent) (of the month of fasting etc.). How to know the repentance of a person who has received the punishment of false accusation and no doubt, the Prophet ﷺ kept an adulterer in exile for one year. The Prophet ﷺ did not allow anybody to talk to Ka'b bin Mālik and his two companions for fifty days.