The ruling on news received by telephone

Question

(1) News by telephone, when it comes from a reliable person, yields probability (zann), and preponderant probability (ghalabat al-zann) is a proof (hujja) for action. So when news by telephone comes from a scholar who can be relied upon, is it correct to fast and to break the fast on its basis or not? (2) In the books of fiqh the letter of a qadi to a qadi (kitab al-qadi ila al-qadi) is accepted as a proof by being made analogous to the address of a qadi to a qadi (khitab al-qadi ila al-qadi).

Answer

(1) Fasting and breaking the fast on the basis of mere news by telephone is not correct. (2) The Shari‘a has accepted the letter of a qadi to a qadi as a proof in transactions (mu‘amalat), not in all matters, and moreover it is a proof contrary to analogy (qiyas). And are all the conditions laid down for it present in the telephone?

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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