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Source: Jihad Watch In Sharia court a woman's testimony is worth half as much as that of a man. Says the Qur'an: "Call in two male witnesses from among you, but if two men cannot be found, then one man and two women whom you judge fit to act as witnesses; so that if either of them commit an error, the other will remember" (2:282). Islamic legal theorists have restricted the validity of a woman's testimony even further by limiting it to, in the words of one Muslim legal manual, "cases involving property, or transactions dealing with property, such as sales" ('Umdat al-Salik, o24.8). Otherwise only men can testify. And in cases of sexual misbehavior, four male witnesses are required. Not just witnesses who can testify that an instance of fornication, adultery, or rape happened: these witnesses must have seen the act itself. This peculiar and destructive stipulation had its genesis in an incident in Muhammad's life, when his wife, Aisha, was accused of infidelity. The accusation particularly distressed Muhammad, since Aisha was his favorite wife. But in this case as in many others, Allah came to the aid of his Prophet: he revealed Aisha's innocence and instituted the stipulation of four witnesses for sexual sins: "Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they produce not witnesses, they verily are liars in the sight of Allah" (Qur'an 24:13). Consequently, it is very difficult to convict men of what the Sharia considers to be sexual crimes (zina). As long as they deny the charge and there are no witnesses, they will get off scot-free, because the woman's testimony is inadmissible. Even worse, if a woman accuses a man, she may end up incriminating herself. "Bangladeshi single mother caned over paternity row," from AFP, May 26 (thanks to Religion of Peace):